Breaking Glass
by WitchOfDarkness13
Summary: The Marauders and friends are entering their fifth year. Classes are getting harder, people's attitudes are changing, and there's a darkness in the world that is growing, and that darkness is aiming for students of Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

**AN/ Ok this is the sequel to Crystalline Glass. And while it isn't imperative for you to read that story, it would help make some things clearer for you. Ok, so this is going to start the summer before their fifth year, and, once again, will focus a lot on Ann and Sirius. The story will be getting darker from here on out. If anything gets too graphic I will put a warning in that chapter. To my readers from before, thank you and welcome. Please enjoy and review.**

**Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor will I ever be. **

I take a deep breath and let it out, trying to focus on what I have to do rather than the pain in my right leg. Tessa and father aren't playing any games today. Swallowing I take off at a sprint through the arena and slide into one of the hiding spaces that's around, Tessa's spell just barely missing me.

"Come on out little Annalisa! I want to play!" Tessa laughs. She's been hanging around Bellatrix more and more lately. I'm worried that she'll start with the baby talk soon.

Placing up a strong shield I think about my next move and remember the last time that I had talked with Sirius about his cousin.

_"We actually used to be really close," Sirius says, "I think that's why she hates me so much right now. It's because the two of us used to be the closest out of all the cousins. We helped each other out. I miss when she would help me out or even just talk to me, but that hasn't happened for a long time now. I miss her sometimes. I miss my Bells."_

That had surprised the others. The thought that Sirius used to be close to Bellatrix, but it seems like it would only make sense. They're both strong willed, loyal, cocky, insane, and fierce duelists. They're too similar to have been anything but close when they were young.

"Enough hiding Annalisa, you're only proving that all Gryffindors are cowards," father sneers.

My temper flares and I creep from my hiding place. They want me to come out into the open. I know that they have a trap, but sometimes the best thing to do is to just charge in. As soon as I step out into the field spells rain down on me and I'm dodging them quickly, hoping that they'll hit each other and be done with it.

"What's wrong little Anna? Don't want to play?" Tessa asks. She's wearing a black cloak with silver lining along the seams.

I close my eyes momentarily and then just start sending spells at her, not caring if they're dark magic or if they're light magic. On her the only thing I won't use are the Unforgivables. Tessa smirks and starts to fight with me more. Ever since she became a Death Eater she's gotten a hell of a lot better are dueling. It's driving me insane and I want to beat her to a bloody pulp. Fortunately for me, she still sucks at hand to hand combat and that makes it easy once her wand is away from her.

"Now that's more like it!" she shrieks with happiness.

I give a light growl and keep shooting spells, hexes, curses and jinxes at her. In between two of my spells she sends a curse at me and I dodge away from it as best I can, but still get hit in the calf. I feel the skin and some of the muscle tear and yelp in part surprise, part pain. She gives a smile and throws another spell. This one I shield, but I can feel the shield crack.

'Damn, she's managed to channel power better since the last time that I dueled her!' I think and then send out a smoke spell. Distracting her and causing her to cough.

"Enough," father says, "Annalisa, go to your room and change clothing. Meet me in the sitting room in a half hour. Lord Black and his heir are coming over to discuss some things."

I nod and hurry down to my room. Sirius is coming! Glancing at my clothes the first thing that must be taken care of is that cut. I grab some bandages from my cabinet and wrap my calf, keeping pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. Stupid curses and their stubbornness to be healed by magic. Once that's taken care of my clothes change from work out gear to some black pants and a black button up, and I also put on a dark purple robe. I feel like racing around like a little kid, but that wouldn't be worth the punishment. Ascending the stairs, I feel the anticipation building, but keep my face blank. To show any kind of emotion or anticipation would be more than just cause for my father to kick me out of the meeting and lock me in the training room.

Entering the sitting room my first instinct is to organize everything and make it look neater. Shifting the chairs and some of the heirlooms that lie about the place, I glance at the time and quickly stand behind father's chair. He walks in a moment later with Lord Black and Sirius following. I give a quick bow in their direction and give the smallest of winks to Sirius when both men are distracted by their conversation.

"Lord Black, thank you for privileging me with this visit. To what do I owe this honor?" father asks, directing Lord Black to take a seat. Once the other man is seated, father sits in his chair.

Lord Black folds his hands in his lap and looks father in the eye, "You have heard of the Dark Lord, no doubt?"

"Naturally."

"I was wondering what you think of him."

Father doesn't hesitate, "He has good plans and ideals. I trust him to bring the Wizarding World to what it should be and the rest of the world to soon follow."

Lord Black nods and looks contemplative, "My niece, Bellatrix, is one of his followers. I know that your daughter, Tessa, is one as well. I am planning Sirius to join the summer before his seventeenth, and was wondering if Annalisa was going to be joining him as well?"

I hold back a gasp and my eyes dart to Sirius's face. He's turned pale at the mention of his father's plan, but doesn't show any other sign of shock. Either he knew this was coming or he is getting better at holding back his emotion. One year. That's all Sirius has to decide if he is going to run away or if he is going to stick with his family. One year to make one of the hardest, if not the hardest, decision in his life.

"Though she shows a certain reluctance to use her natural magic, Annalisa is a more than capable duelist and she has a fierce temper. I have been entertaining the thought of when to have her join and the summer before her seventeenth has been sticking in my mind as well." Father entwines his fingers together and crosses one leg over the other.

I feel no shock at this proposal. Honestly, I knew it was going to happen. I have one summer left as well. One summer to decide if I am going to stay with the family, leave, or end up killed by the family. I know that Sirius is watching me with the same worry that I had shown him a few moments earlier, but I cannot meet his eyes. I knew my fate was coming, he quite possibly did not.

"I was wondering," Lord Black begins, "If you would like to bring your children and wife to the Falasie Noire. I will be bringing my children and Bellatrix along with Walburga. I was thinking that we could train our children together; after all I know that you have been training Annalisa specially for a while now. Maybe in a slightly unfamiliar environment will have both of our children working toward the level of magic which they should already be at?"

Father thinks about the proposition for a while. Out of all the Ancient and Most Noble families ours has the prestige and honor of being the one known for its fighting skills. Closely behind is the family Black. To train with the family Black would be well worth it. We could gain the skill that they have and learn more about their fighting methods. Yet they would also learn about our skills and methods. To my father this is almost a double edged sword, the good and the bad in the same decision, but which will outweigh the other?

Finally father nods, "That is a good proposition and I accept. When do you wish us to meet?"

"The sooner the better. However Walburga will need at least the rest of today to pack, so tomorrow. You can come by floo, the wards will be opened for your family."

Arriving at Falasie Noire I notice that the area is mostly decorated in black marble, silver accents and a lot of emerald. It's oddly comforting. Shaking my head, I step out of the way of the fireplace and wait for the rest of the family to arrive. As they all enter with a swoosh, footsteps sound on the marble floor and Lord Black walks in. He has on a pair of deep emerald robes and black shirt and pants. His hair is tied into a low pony tail and he nods at my father before motioning for us to follow him. Mother, father and Tessa follow him, leaving their bags for Rowan and me to carry.

I roll my eyes and pick them up, shouldering my duffle and placing Tessa's trunk under a levitation spell. Rowan levitates father's trunk and we carry mother's between the two of us. Sirius appears out of, seemingly, nowhere and smiles. He levitates our mother's trunk and starts off.

"So welcome to Falasie Noire. This place is completely blocked from all ministry wards, spells and other things. So, as you already figured out, we can do magic even if we're underage," Sirius says. His voice has deepened slightly over the summer and he's grown by about five inches, causing him to be taller than me by about two inches.

"Yeah, kinda figured that already," I say, smiling, "But, have you ever been here before?"

"Once," Sirius mutters, "last year."

I frown because I realize that this is where Bellatrix hit him with the crucio curse the first time. And that bitch is going to be here too. Oh, I hope I get to duel her.

"So what are we doing after settling in?" Rowan asks. He's a third year this year, and he already has hair longer than what mother would approve. Tessa thinks that it is offensive, I think that it's hilarious.

"We're to meet in the conference room, our training partners will be decided upon based upon how we match up with them by power and ability. Father was originally going to have it be based on how we are listed in the families, but he figured that we would learn more if we were fighting with an equal against either better or worse opponents," Sirius explains.

I nod, "That makes sense. I hope I'm not paired with Bellatrix."

Sirius grins, "Yeah, you'd end up hitting her more than your opponent. You can set the trunks down here, the house elves will put them in the right rooms."

Rowan chuckles as he sets down the case, then perks up, "Regulus!"

Finally noticing that the younger Black brother was ahead of us I give Rowan a nod and he runs after the boy, who stopped to wait for him. Sirius smiles and gives Regulus a wink and Regulus nods back, a slight smirk on his face. My guide then takes a right turn and leads me down a hallway where the marble floor gives way to carpet of the same color and wood panel walls which have been stained a dark brown. Emerald drapes line the wall with silver tassels and pull ropes alongside the heavy green material.

"So the two of us have rooms right next to each other. We also have some of the larger rooms because we're the heirs to the family. A slight perk, but the downside is that they are nowhere near our brother's rooms and they are also far away from the other private rooms," Sirius says, "But we're near the stairs that come out right by the training rooms and the conference room, so we can take some time getting ready."

"That can be useful. Are there windows in the rooms?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to clean them if you want a clear view outside."

"That doesn't bother me." I don't tell Sirius that I'm excited to be living in a room, outside of Hogwarts, that is above ground for the first time in over ten years. I don't tell him that to have an actual window is something that I have waited to have for a while now. He doesn't know that I live in the basement of our house, and I don't plan on him finding out.

Sirius opens a bedroom and smiles at me, "Welcome to home sweet home for the next two months."

Stepping inside I grin. The place actually has only a little green around, it is mostly covered in amethyst and other purples. Light gray and black accent the room as does pewter metals. The doorknob, instead of being the classic snake, is just a cast iron handle with a paw print engraved in it. There are a couple of wolf accents around the room and I turn to Sirius, my eyes wide with excitement and delight.

"Did you do this?" I ask, voice low.

Sirius nods, "We got here last night and I figured that you would want something other than an emerald lair to live in. Plus this is much homier than some of the other rooms around here. It was good spell practice and-"

I place my hand on his mouth and smile, "You're babbling."

He shrugs, mischief in his eyes, "I tend to do that when I'm trying to impress my friends."

"I've noticed," my chuckle escapes, "Well consider me impressed. And thankful."

"Good, now we need to get down to the conference room. Father doesn't appreciate it when people are late."

I nod, thinking the same thing about my father and follow him out of the room and down the hall to the stairs. This is a different set than the main stairs, and are wooden with a carpet runner going down them. I figure that these were probably the staff stairs that were used back before muggle slaves were outlawed in the 1700s. Luckily they are still in good condition, but I worry about how open we are to an attack from this angle. Knowing my father, he is going to want us to be in training all the time. He won't care if we're trying to sleep. It could be the middle of the night and he'll wake us up with a stinging hex and start a duel right in the bedroom. It's happened before. If this is a twenty four hour, round the clock training exercise, then that means I am going to take precautionary measures against that sort of thing from happening. Good thing I have a Marauder with me.

Arriving in the conference room I instantly take refuge in the shadows along the wall, as does Sirius. He's become fantastic at hiding himself amongst shadows and sometimes even I have a hard time finding him. One by one the family members who are here enter the room. Both of our Fathers are the last ones to enter and look around, counting the heads. Only six people stand before them.

"Where are Sirius and Annalisa?" Father asks.

Lord Black merely raises an eyebrow at Regulus, who gulps.

"They were not in their rooms when we went to get them," Rowan and Regulus chime.

"We're here," I call out, stepping out of the shadows. I don't want either of the boys to get hurt. Sirius follows me, the flash of his eyes being the only thing to tell me that he is worried about both of them as well.

Both Lords nod and turn to the center of the room, father motions for Lord Black to begin and steps back slightly.

"We have decided that you will train with one partner based upon power and ability. To figure out who will be evenly matched each of you will duel the other people from the other family. Once we have found your match, we will continue to the next person," he says. "We will start with Annalisa. She will duel against Bellatrix."

My heart pounds for a moment and blink. Of course they would have Sirius or myself go first, we're the heirs. Damn title. Standing I follow them into the dueling room. Taking my place opposite Bellatrix, I take off my robe and toss it to the side of the arena. A large semi-clear bubble takes place over the arena and I know that it's to stop any stray spells from hitting the spectators.

"Ready to lose Annalisa?" Bellatrix asks, her voice condescending and setting my teeth on edge.

I let out a growl and just take up position. I've only dueled Bellatrix once and that ended in what was more or less a tie. But we both were far younger then. Right now, this duel could go either way, especially with how we both operate in a duel. We're both best in offensive spell work, we know a lot of curses and hexes, and we're fairly good at physically dodging attacks. She has the upper hand in knowing some more damaging hexes and curses and ones that will hurt a person for a while. I have the upper hand in that I am way better at defensive spells than she is. While she's good at _protego_, she has to dodge a lot of spells. Meanwhile I know a lot of spells to absorb attacks, _protego maximus_, and I also know things such as physical defense.

"Let the duel begin," Lord Black directs.

I wait for her first move, knowing she's far less patient than I am. She starts out with a bright orange curse, which I recognize as a skin burning hex and absorb the spell. I feel the energy in me and send out two spells of my own. The good thing about having been in training with father is that I can already cast silently, which is something that she won't be expecting me to know.

She dodges the purple hex and blocks the _stupefy_, responding with a bone breaker hex, a fire curse, and a body lock spell. Those are easily dodged and I send a couple of other spells.

"Enough with the child's play Annalisa!" Bellatrix yells, "Duel me like you mean it!"

"But I have to use child's play! After all, I'm dueling a child!" I shout back.

This seems to piss her off for some reason and she starts in with the really dark magic. My eyes narrow and I reply in kind. Finally we're moving so fast that I would be surprised if anyone would be able to keep up. I conjure a rapier and leap at her, knowing that there wouldn't be anything to block us from going into the other person's half of the dueling arena. She conjures a shield and uses it to block my physical attack while using her wand to block from the magical one.

Bellatrix seems to wise up and transforms my sword into a snake. I don't have time to banish it because she hits me with the shield and uses it to push me away from her. Taking her wand she then begins a continuous assault, mixing in a _crucio_ or two when she gets bored. One of her _crucios_ hits me and I immediately clench my jaw together. Bellatrix laughs and amps up the power. My eyes close and I try thinking that the spell is only in my mind and that it isn't actually hurting me, but that doesn't help. Opening my eyes I see scared blue-silver eyes staring at me. Using that as a focus I begin to fight the spell.

~+~ Sirius's POV ~+~

I hate that I have to sit here and watch as she is attacked repeatedly by Bellatrix. That bitch is going to die by my hand for attacking Ann like she has. Rowan, who is standing on the other side of the arena, looks scared as hell. His eyes have become tinged with silver because of his worry and I wonder if he'll be alright after seeing this. It's something that I would not wish upon my worst enemy. To see your own sibling being tortured like that is horrible, especially when you are so close to them.

An explosion like sound turns my attention back to the arena and there's nothing to see except for a bunch of black smoke. I begin to worry if Ann is alright when she comes limping out of the arena. Standing in front of my father she throws Bellatrix's wand on the ground and limps over to her brother, enveloping him in a hug.

I let out a silent sigh of relief and give the slightest of smiles before locking up again. Father and Lord Grimwood are conversing in low tones, but neither seems very angry. That means one of two things. Either they expected this, or they were hoping for something like this to happen, which doesn't make sense to me.

"To allow both duelists a break the next pair will be Sirius and Tessa."

I grip my wand and step into the arena, taking off my robe. I prefer fighting without the possibility of tripping in it.

"Ready little dog?" Tessa sneers.

I smile, "At least my name is in the stars. Doesn't yours mean something like gatherer or something like that? Real impressive."

Tessa shrugs and stands there. From what Ann has told me, she's learned patience as she's grown older. That means I'll either have to piss her off or start the party myself.

"_Defodio_!" I call, while sending out other spells silently.

Tessa blocks the first two spells, while using another one against the third to send it back to me. My eyes narrow and I wonder what spell that was, it could be useful in the future. Sending out some more curses I wait it out and run down what Ann had told me about Tessa's dueling style. Tessa is more defensive, but she knows some really bad offensive spells too. She tends to favor her left side and is pretty apt at physical fighting. I watch her carefully before throwing some spells at her and bringing up a shield.

Tessa gives a light growl and throws three extremely powerful spells at me, breaking my shield, and hitting me with one of them. I hiss in pain before glaring at her. Shaking my head, I tap into the reserves that I usually ignore. My magic reserves tend to be darker in nature, and they tend to work better with dark magic.

"_Matraque_!" I hiss, sending that spell between a few other ones. I watch in amazement as she ends up dodging into it. She lets out a scream and is thrown back. I clench my teeth and ignore the drop of my stomach and throw_ fractureos_ at her. Her wand arm breaks and I summon her wand from her. I hold it in my hand long enough to get the shields to go down before throwing her wand back to her.

Walking back to my position at the edge, I catch Ann's eye and we nod. I know that our parents will decide to have us work on our own. They don't want us to get any ideas. Rowan and Regulus will be together because they are closer in age and act and react to each other well. Tessa and Bellatrix are similar enough to be different and different enough to be similar, so they will be able to help each other build. So the two of us will have to work together, yet separate at the same time. Sounds like fun.

After the duels are all done, father and Lord Grimwood stand together talking about what they are planning to do. For all we know, they could just say forget having partners and every one of us could be on our own.

"So what do you think their plan is?" Ann asks as she steps in next to me.

"Not sure, but I know that they are going to do whatever it takes to push the rest of us to our wit's end. Whatever happens, I know that we're going to have to be careful when in our rooms," I say.

Ann nods, "I thought about that too. They're too isolated and have one too many ways to get to them. I don't like it one bit, but there's nothing we can do about it right now except to prepare for what may come."

I nod and turn back to our fathers, who have finished with their conversation. They look at us and seem as though they're still calculating things. Almost as though they aren't entirely sure about what they have planned. I bite the side of my mouth and wonder if my first assessment was correct. Will we be fighting on our own, or will they give us partners to work with?

"After careful consideration of both dueling style and knowledge of magic it has been decided that you will work on a rotating schedule. This is so that you all can gain the most from this experience as possible," father says, "The first pairing will be the longest, and will last four weeks. Your next will be three, then two, then one. The rest of the summer you will be on your own."

I swallow. So they couldn't decide what would work best. Obviously this is the best compromise that they could come up with. Hopefully it will work well.

"It is the decision of Lord Grimwood and myself that the pairs should be like this. Regulus will be paired with Rowan. Sirius will be paired with-"

I close my eyes, hoping and praying that it will be Ann.

"Tessa. Bellatrix will be paired with Annalisa."

My heart sinks and I catch Ann's eye across the room. She looks about as thrilled by this as I do. And in all honesty, Tessa and Bellatrix look as though they can think of better alternatives as well.

Lord Grimwood steps forward, "Get with your partner and discuss things on how you will train and practice. Both of you have something to learn from the other. Your training schedule is completely up to you. We do not care if you practice in the morning, afternoon or middle of the night. But, when you are scheduled to meet with Lord Black or myself you will be prompt. And do not think that if one of you is late that you both will be punished. You may be partnered, but you are not a team."

"Now," Father takes over, "Get out of here. No one is to use the dueling arena for the rest of the day."

I bow to the Lords and exit the room. Leaning against the wall I wait for Tessa. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can get work done on other things. Ann walks out and it seems that she's pissed. She stands in front of the door, eyes narrowed, arms crossed and a scowl on her face that could easily put others to shame. When Bellatrix walks out she glares at Ann and the two seem to have a staring match for a while until they both turn and walk off. Regulus and Rowan leave, already in deep discussion about what they will be working on. They're balanced quite nicely. Both have even talents in offensive and defensive tactics and both are fairly powerful. They're more likely to work as a team than as two people forced to work together.

Tessa finally exits and gives me a look, "Let's get this straight. I don't like you, you don't like me. We'll put up with each other for the next four weeks and then go back to trying to kill each other, got it dog breath?"

"Fine, but you really need to come up with better insults," I start to walk away, then look over my shoulder, "Coming?"

I hear her huff, but soon she's walking along side me through the house. I lead the way to one of the courtyards and quickly make my way into the tree that stands to the side.

"I'm _not_ climbing a tree," Tessa sneers.

I shrug and lay down on the branch, "Whatever. So what the fuck are we supposed to learn from each other?"

"You don't pay attention to fighting styles do you?"

"Nope."

"Didn't think so," Tessa says, "because then you would know that I'm a defensive fighter. You are an extremely offensive fighter, and therefore are more likely to run into a place without thinking."

I roll my eyes, "Oh yes, because over analyzing things is so much better."

"Better then not having a plan at all."

"I always have a plan."

"Oh really? And what might that be?"

"Yeah, go in there, kick some arse, and not get myself bloody well killed."

"Brilliant plan."

"It's worked so far.'

She snarls, "We are not getting anywhere by bickering like this. If you wish to act like an immature child then please do so when not in my presence! It is bad enough that I have to deal with your inept fighting for the next four weeks, do not make this any tougher than it must be."

"Inept fighting?" I sit up and look down at her, "Did you forget who won our duel a while ago?"

"That might be so, but I am far better at hand to hand then you are. There are only two people in this house who are better than I am," Tessa sniffs.

I snarl at her, "Yeah, and I happen to know who to talk with to have your arse kicked from here to the fucking Mediterranean!"

"Right," Tessa snorts, "as if Annalisa could ever actually hurt me. She might be father's atrum angelus, but she's nothing. Too weak, in both mind and will. That must be why the two of you get on so well."

"Really?" I smirk, "Well, good luck finding your way back to your room from here. There are anti-apparition wards over the entire manor. The only person who can apparate in here is my father. And the reason I picked this specific courtyard to sit in is because it's the furthest from the rooms we stay in and there's no quick easy way to get back to a main room or hall."

"And?" Tessa says, "I can just follow you back."

I laugh, "Multiple people can enter at once, but only one person can exit at a time. Do you get it now? I know all of the passages around here. By the time you're allowed out, I'll be in my room relaxing."

Her eyes narrow, "You would not leave me here. I am the oldest of the Grimwood children."

"And? If you want to play that card, I trump it." At her confused look I roll my eyes, "Heir to the house of Black, remember?"

"Your father would not want you to leave me here. It shows bad manners."

"He'd let it slide once I told him that I'd planned it. It shows my more Slytherin side," I shrug and smile at her, "Bye Tessa. See you tomorrow!"

I exit the courtyard and enter one of the passageways. Walking along I whistle a tune that I remember from muggle London. Sure it was a nasty trick to play on Tessa, especially when the Grimwoods have no idea how to navigate in this place, but she deserved it. She acts so damn superior and snooty. It reminds me a lot of Narcissia and Malfoy.

Exiting the passage I take a couple of turns and walk into the library. Regulus and Rowan are seated at a table with some books around them.

"What's going on?" I ask, "Studying? Tsk tsk boys, I expected better of you."

"And what did you come in here to do?" Regulus asks, "To sleep?"

"Naw, that's what I've a bed for."

Rowan smiles, "True, but where's Tessa?"

"We split ways."

"Uh-huh," Regulus nods, "well, we'll be getting back to work now.'

I laugh and walk over to a bookshelf that I have slowly been working my way through. Pulling off the book I was last reading I head back for my room. Leaving the library I ruffle Regulus's hair and dodge around his reflexive hit. My room is right above the library, so it's a relatively quick walk and I immediately open the windows when I reach it.

My room is nice. It's done up in blues and silvers, with pewter and cast iron as the main metals. I have a bed, dresser, and desk that are all in a matching walnut with a dark finish on the wood. The bookshelf is rather large, and there's a mirror that is opposite it. I have huge windows that face the southern lawn and usually have a nice breeze that come through them.

Settling on my bed, I kick off my shoes and open the book to the next available page. This is the main reason I don't read much throughout the school year, because that's what I spend a lot of my summer doing. It's the best way to keep mother and father off of my back. Though now, it seems as though summer will be a bit different.


	2. Of Duels and Ballerinas

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

I pace my bedroom in annoyance. I can't believe that I've been paired up with Bellatrix. Stupid Bellabitch.

"Arrrrgggghhhh!" I throw a hex in frustration and give a slight growl when it breaks one of the, few, snake oriented decorations in the room. Throwing my hands up I exit the room and walk to the main hall and take a right. My feet automatically switch to lighter steps so that I cannot be heard, and I pound on Bellatrix's door. It opens suddenly and my eyes narrow.

"What's wrong? Bitsy baby Grimwood can't find her way without me?" Bellatrix asks, using that stupid baby voice of hers.

"I just want to know where your training room is."

"We can't go in the dueling arena today."

"Did I say _anything _about the dueling arena?" I growl through clenched teeth.

She clicks her tongue, "It's downstairs in the west wing, right side of the hall. Now leave!"

I flip her off and walk away. The marble stairs feel great on my bare feet and the thought that I should have worn shoes crosses my mind for a moment before I ignore it. Following Bellatrix's directions I find myself in a practice area not all that different from the one at Grimwood manor. Granted, things are placed a little different, but most of the equipment is the same. Unfortunately it looks like it hasn't been used in years. My lip curls in disgust and I cast cleaning spells. Once that's taken care of I wrap my hands and walk up to a punching bag. The only problem with a bag is that it can get too repetitive.

"Enough of this. _Umbra proeliatorun_." A single shade warrior appears and stands in front of me, ready for my command, "Alright, I want you to spar with me. Understand?"

The warrior nods once and takes up position. I do the same and take in a breath before starting the session. Practice goes so much better when I have someone, or in this case something, to practice against. In my mind are the events of today and how screwed I am to be forced to work with Bellabitch. The only thing that would have been worse would have been forced with Tessa. Luckily they want the two houses to work together and learn from each other. The only chance of that happening is between Rowan and Regulus. I give another punch before feinting and giving a good kick to the shade warrior's chest, causing it to disappear with the "kill" hit. Clapping sounds and I spin around in surprise.

"Well done," Lord Black says, "Good form and good precision."

I bow, "Thank you Lord Black."

"Stand. Now, why are you on your own? Where is Bellatrix?" he asks. His eyes are cold and seem to have an underlying anger to them.

"In her room," I tell him, "She wanted to be left alone."

His eyebrow raises, "Is that so? We cannot have that can we?"

I'm too stunned by how much the patriarch looks like Sirius, or the other way around rather, that I can only nod in response. The expressions and especially the eyes are what seem to bare the closest resemblance. He flicks his wand at the ceiling and waits. I feel as though I should talk to him or something, but just keep quiet and watch him and the door at the same time. The door opens and Bellatrix walks in looking slightly miffed, but also like she's worried.

"Yes Uncle Orion?" She asks.

"Why aren't you with Annalisa practicing?" Lord Black asks.

"I-I was working on some things in my room. I thought she would be fine to work on her own," Bellatrix responds.

"Interesting. And yet you could be here trying to learn from Annalisa about hand to hand combat. She's one of the better fighters that I have seen," Orion states.

"Why is Sirius allowed to leave Tessa and return to his room?" Bellatrix asks.

Orion raises his eyebrows, "Where did he leave her?"

"In the Oak Courtyard."

"Well you should know that she'll have to figure out her own way back to the rooms. I agree with what Sirius did, for once."

Bellatrix's eyes widen and her mouth gapes open. Closing it quickly and regaining her composure she nods and turns to me.

"Alright pipsqueak what are we going to do?"

I raise an eyebrow, "You want to work out with me?"

"Yes, why?"

"Because you're going to hate it," I smirk, "Quickly change clothing and come back."

While Bellatrix is changing I work on my hand to hand some more with another specter. By the time I have that one "killed" Bellatrix is watching me from the sidelines. She has on a pair of shorts and a tank top. I nod once and motion for her to come over.

"Alright, first thing we're going to do is run laps. Which would you prefer, in this room or outside?" I ask. "Running? Why do we need to run?"

"It builds endurance."

"What if I don't want to?"

I shrug, "It's your choice, but if you want to be able to last longer than your opponent in a duel then you might as well run and have the endurance. Plus if you're ever overpowered then you need to be able to run away."

"Running away sounds rather cowardly from a Gryffindor."

"It takes more courage to run away than to stubbornly fight a losing battle." I raise an eyebrow, "But if you know more about fighting then so be it. Do what you want." With that I start to jog around the area. After about three laps she joins me, muttering under her breath the entire time. After she's run a couple of laps she's getting breathy and a lap later she's totally out of breath. She slows down to a walk and I roll my eyes. I keep jogging and manage to run right around so that I'm behind her. Pulling out my wand I mutter a hex and she jumps from the electrical shock.

Bellatrix spins around, "What was that for?"

"Come on, run." I zap her again. She starts to walk toward me as if she's going to stop me, but I summon her wand and zap her again, "Run."

"You're going to get it," Bellatrix growls.

I roll my eyes, "Uh-huh. Please come up with something a little more original. Now move!"

She finally starts to run and I grin. This thing just might be fun.

"Bellatrix! Stop acting like an idiot and actually help me!" I yell at her from the other end of the arena. I duck as another spell comes flying at me, "Oi! I'd like to keep my eyebrows where they're at thanks!"

A round of barking laughter tells me who sent the hex and leads me to the realization that the spell was off the mark on purpose. Sirius never misses his target unless he means to. And if he means to miss….

Standing up I take off running toward the wall of the arena. _Get away, get far, far away! _When I hear Bella's laughter I stop mid run and look at her. I hate her, but I also know that I couldn't live with myself if she ended up dead or seriously injured. After all, you can't kill someone who is already dead now can you? Huffing in annoyance at the time that this is going to take I grab her arm and pull her along with me.

"What are you doing Grimwood?" She snarls.

I growl at her, "Helping you out. Now do as I say or I'll leave you to whatever spell Sirius is going to use!"

She rolls her eyes, "As if. Sirius won't try to do anything that widespread. He doesn't have the stomach for it, and he doesn't have the magical power for it either. Now if you don't let go of me, I will curse you myself!"

I snarl and take off at a run, feeling energy of the area being pulled toward the other side of the arena. I'm dodging around the debris that has already accumulated and reach the edge of the arena, where there's a spell that wards the magic from affecting the onlookers. Standing by the ward I summon a couple of bits of debris and arrange it in front of me, use a piece of cement for a bit of transfiguration into a large cement wall.

That's when there's almost a pause in the battle. In that pause the silence stretches out and seeps into the very stone in which our spells had been hitting. Finally the silence is broken with an echoing _boom_. I quickly put up a shield charm and anchor my feet. Sure enough a moment later and there's a blast that wrecks havoc on everything. The stone and cement that I had placed in front of me ends up broken into dust, and my shield barely holds, pushing me back about five feet from the impact. When the commotion stops I peek out from behind the stone and start laughing.

Bellatrix and Tessa, caught in the crossfire of the spell are both on a small platform, dressed like ballerinas, wearing a neon pink and neon orange outfit respectively. Bellatrix is standing on point with her hands above her head. Sparkles glint in the light and there are ribbons in her hair. Tessa is in a pirouette, also with sparkles, but she has flowers weaved into her hair. The piece de résistance is that their hair and skin have been colored pastel blue and lavender.

I walk up to Bellatrix and grin, knowing that the spell is keeping her in position and that she can't reach her wand, which is lying on the floor in front of her, "I warned you. When it comes to Sirius, expect everything and you'll never be surprised."

I look across the arena and grin at Sirius, who is walking toward the dividing line, hands in his pocket and a smirk on his face. He summons Bellatrix's wand and places it in one of his wrist holsters.

"What do you think?" he asks.

"Not bad. Where did you learn it?" I ask.

He laughs, "I made it. It's just a mix of some spells and what not. How'd you avoid it?"

I point to my mock shelter, "A whole bunch of cement blockades and a really strong shield charm."

"So," Sirius says, "We won't be let out of here until one of us beats the other."

I nod, swallowing, and trying to ignore the fight instinct that's rising up. This is Sirius, one of my best friends and one of the few people who understands what's going on with me. He's one of the few people who I can talk to about anything. Why do I want to curse him? Why do I feel the need to beat him to a pulp and just walk away without a care? What's happening? I look down at my wand before throwing it at him. Sure enough he catches it and the shield around the arena drops. Turning on my heel, I take off at a run, barely registering the look of shock and worry on Sirius's face.

"Annalisa! Annalisa come back here!" Father yells, but I ignore him.

The door shuts behind me, effectively shutting off all sound from the room. I look at the halls and have to decide, left or right? I hear a click behind me and start a sprint to the right. Right, left, left, straight, right, left, right, down the stairs, left and then behind the door. When I shut the door I look around the room and sigh in relief when I don't see another way into the room. Sitting on the floor I put my hands over my eyes and sigh.

"_Wake up, wake up don't just lay in bed. Sleeping in is bad for your head," mother sneers._

_My muscles are still twitching from last night, and I try to sit up, to move, to do anything so as to avoid what is going to happen if I don't show signs of being awake. Too late. I can feel my body scream as she uses a compression spell on it._

"_I'm up! I'm up!"_

_She huffs, "Get into the dueling arena. Now!"_

_The door slams and I roll out of bed, wincing as my left leg threatens to give out. Limping into the arena, my feet are knocked out from under me in an instant. I give a growl and crawl to one of the alcoves, trying to get my bearings._

"_Annalisa, stop hiding! Come out now, or I will force you out," Father shouts._

_I wait where I'm at, wondering if he's bluffing or telling the truth. Within moments though I feel as though I am floating on a cloud, not a care in the world, 'Weird,' I think, 'Wasn't I worried about something?'_

'_Come out of hiding.'_

_Deciding not to worry about it, I climb out of my hiding spot and stand in the open._

_Another thought comes across my mind, 'Why am I in the open? I could get hit!'_

'_Find Tessa. Once you have found her, use rompreos.'_

_When I feel my body move of its own accord I start to worry and try and fight the feeling. I try to stop myself, but the floating sensation is too much, and I sink into it after a while, enjoying it._

A crash from above me startles me from my thoughts. Looking around the room, I shift some things to block the door and sit in one of the corners, my thoughts racing and turning over that event time and time again. It was the first time I had even been put under the imperious curse. That had been during the summer before fourth year.

I knew that one of the reasons that Sirius would be worried about me is because I've started to use dark magic more, but I honestly don't want to. I hate doing it and I hate myself every time that I do it. However it is one of the only things that will work against Tessa and father, particularly when they both are attacking me at the same time. I never have enough time to look up offensive spells that are lighter in nature, but I can always figure out a new dark spell to use. After all I only have to wait for Tessa or father to use it on me a couple of times and I can pretty much master it.

I hear a scraping and jump. Looking around frantically, trying to find where the sound is coming from, I barely register that I've taken a defensive stance. Some stone, roughly at waist level, moves back and then to the right. My breath quickens slightly and my eyes narrow. A shaggy black head pops through the entrance and I sigh in relief, sinking to the floor.

Sirius steps in and shuts the door behind him. Sitting opposite of me he waits for a few moments before clearing his throat.

"So is there a reason that you decided to run from, what would have been, a pretty fun duel?" Sirius asks.

I glance at him before croaking out, "I felt the need to attack you. To severely harm you, and I didn't want to. I was worried that if I didn't leave that you would end up hurt."

Sirius frowns at me before glancing to the ceiling, "What happened to you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Something's happened, and you aren't telling anyone."

"Right, cause I have to tell you everything," I snap.

"I don't mean it like that!" Sirius says, "I just mean that I'm worried for you! In all the years that I've known you, I have never known for you to act like this!"

"Act like what?"

"Act like you're giving up."

"What?"

Sirius nods, "You've given up. Something's happened and you've decided to stop fighting against your family and stop doing what you believe in."

"I have not!" I shout.

"Then what happened to you?"

**AN/ Lookie! Another chapter and it's before four months! Ok, so I know that the story seems like it's going slowly right now, but it will pick up soon, I promise!**

**Thank you to the lovely xoxo fanfics for reviewing, that made my day! On what you said about Ann and Sirius using dark magic, yes they will be using it more than previously, but they are also older than before. More of Ann's sort of internal battle will be shown in later chapters, because she's still trying to figure out what the use of dark magic means to her. Sirius, so far, prefers to not use it, but since he grew up in a house which is bubbling over with dark magic, his magic will sometimes take on that feature more readily than light magics.**

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


	3. Of Swimming and Dogs

Walking down the hall towards the library I frown at what Sirius and I had just discussed. I hadn't known, hadn't even thought that his family would do that to him. Granted they hate him and all that, but I still thought that they believed blood deserved better than that.

I shake my head and count the aisles until I hit the thirty fifth one and walk down that aisle to the back wall, taking a left and counting five more rows. The books back here are dusty and practically unused for the last hundred years, possibly longer. Frowning as my eyes search the spines for _Arts Most Practical: A Beginner's Guide to Offensive Magics of the Light. _To be honest I was totally surprised when I heard that the Blacks had this book in their library, but I was not surprised one bit when I had heard that Sirius knew precisely where it was.

Pulling the book from the shelf, I smile, knowing that I will, finally, be able to use some high level offensive magic that, should be, a surprise to my family. I also _grab Merlinian Spells_, _Wards of Olde_, and _Ruinic Warding_. I am so glad that I decided to take Ancient Ruins instead of Divination. From what James, Sirius and Peter complain about the teacher is a babbling idiot who needs a good whack to the head. Though they say that the worst is Trelawney, the crazy seventh year who hangs onto Professor Meddlestone's every word. Apparently Trelawney thinks that Divination is one of the best things in the world.

Remus agrees with me, and dropped Divination before entering his fourth year. He was taking Ancient Ruins as well, but where I was taking Arithmancy, he was studying Care of Magical creatures with Kettleburn. Sirius was taking Muggle Studies as well as divination, James had Care of Magical creatures with Remus and Peter. It had surprised everyone to find out that James and Sirius were not attached at the hip, but also slightly refreshing.

I mentally shake myself from my thoughts and pay attention to where I'm going. It would be bad to run into a wall, statue, or random spear that jumps out at me. As it is, Bella and Tessa are still pissed off at Sirius for what he did. I found, and still find, it hilarious what he had done to them, but they apparently do not share this same humor. Chuckling, I climb the stairs to my bedroom and tap my wand onto the doorknob.

"Tessa is awesome," I say. Granted, it might not be the best password, or the most truthful, but it is the one that people would doubt that I would ever use. The click alerts me to the opening of the door and I walk in quickly, shutting the heavy wood behind me. Glancing around my current room I smile. The library of the Blacks has been most useful to me. Unlike my own family library, which I have read from top to bottom and have become quite frustrated with, the Blacks actually have quite a few books about ruinic magic and warding, two areas of magic where I find myself to be extremely fascinated with.

Just as I settle down to read one of the books I'd borrowed there's a knock at the painting on the wall that divides my room from Sirius's.

"Open," I call out, summoning a drink and some snacks for while I'm reading.

Sirius comes running in, "Ann, you have to help me! I don't know how to get rid of it!"

Looking up in curiosity I frown, "Get rid of what?"

"This!" Sirius turns and I see this big black fuzzy tail whipping back and forth. Biting my lip hard to stop from laughing, I can't stop the smile from appearing on my face, causing Sirius to scowl, "I mean it! I've tried everything and I can't get rid of it!"

"Did you try-"

"Yes."

"What about-"

"Yes!"

"And-"

"Ann! I have tried everything! Just help me get rid of this bloody thing before it becomes permanently attached!"

I chuckle again and shake my head, "That's not possible. I'll try one more thing and if that doesn't work then you'll just have to make the rest of the transformation."

"What?"

"That's the only thing that I can think of that this would mean," I offer with a shrug, "So hold on a moment."

I try the charm that had pulled back animagi transformation mishaps so many times for me, and it doesn't work. That fluffy, wagging, black furry tail is still where it was when he first entered my room. I shake my head and frown a little. If his tail was refusing to leave then that means he had to make the rest of the transformation. Why, I'm not sure, but that's the only way to get rid of the tail.

"Ok, try to transform." I place my book to the side and watch him.

"Just like that? Just like that? I have a bloody tail sticking out of my arse and you want me to transform just like that?" Sirius asks, voice raising a little with each question.

"Yes."

Sirius sighs and grumbles, "What did I do in a past life to end up with a friend like you?"

"Probably something amazingly stupid, now get on with it!"

"Alright! Give a bloke a moment will you?"

I huff and settle down amongst the two or three pillows that I have. Watching Sirius with slight impatience, I see him close his eyes and mutter under his breath before fur seems to creep up his entire frame, changing his human limbs into those of a dog. When it stops he still has a few human characteristics. For the majority his skull is still that of a human's and he still doesn't have as much fur on his face as he should.

"Hmm…" I stand and walk toward him, thinking, "What is your eyesight like?"

Sirius opens his mouth and a bark comes out.

I laugh openly, "Well that's a definite improvement!"

Sirius growls at me.

"Alright, don't lose your shirt!" I laugh, "So nod if you see in black and white."

Sirius nods and sits down.

"So then just keep working at it until you're able to transform, nothing else can be done for you," I say, picking up my book. I hear a few light growls before he shifts again and throws a quill at me.

"You're helpful."

"Uh-huh. Work on your transformation dear."

He scoffs, "Sure thing honey."

I grin and focus on my work again, jotting down notes and different facts that I find interesting. The grumbling kicks up again and is occasionally broken by growling, but none of it is threatening to me. Right as I get ready to mark down a really important point, a whoop sounds next to me.

"Dear Merlin! Damn it Sirius!" I turn to him and see this huge black dog come running toward me and jump on me. When he starts licking me I laugh, "Come on you fuzzy mutt! That's no fair!"

Sirius doesn't give up his attack until I'm helpless laughing, at which point he turns back into himself grinning like a fool. I finally manage to stop laughing enough to give him a playful smack.

"Prat," I laugh.

Sirius shrugs, "You know you don't mind."

"Don't use that to your advantage," I smirk.

"Always," Sirius gets off of me and examines the books that I'm reading, "You're working already?"

I shake my head, "Nope, this is recreational."

"I forgot that your fun tends to be a bit dull."

I raise an eyebrow before grabbing his wrist and taking off at a run out of the room.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Sirius asks, "Ann?"

I smile at him and keep running through the halls, listening to the sound echoing along the marble floor and wood paneled walls. As we run I start laughing at his confusion and he soon joins me. When we hit the stairs I release his hand and slide down the rail, jumping off at the end and turning around to watch Sirius follow me. He slides down on his feet, a grin on his face. When he's jumped off I grab his hand and take off running again. We eventually end up outside with brooms and we're facing one of the cliffs that's on the property.

"Ann?" Sirius asks, nerves reflecting in his voice, "what are you planning?"

"You want to know what I do for fun? Other than prank people, read, and whatever else you've seen me do, I like an adrenaline rush," I say. Keeping a firm grip on my broom I smile at him before jumping out into thin air.

"ANN!" Sirius shouts, his eyes widening and his hand reaching out to grab me. I'm too far away and he watches in horror as I fall.

~+~ Sirius's POV ~+~

I watch Ann's fall, my mouth dry and heart in my throat. Why, how, and a thousand other questions run through my mind, all before bringing me back to one thing that I had so conveniently forgotten. Both of us had brooms. Shaking my head I jump off the cliff, following her decent. As I near the jagged rocks below, I swing my leg over the broom and take off, flying up and away from the danger and into the air. She was right, the adrenaline rush was wonderful.

Giving a loud 'Whoop' I soon am flying parallel with Ann, and I laugh as she does some loop-de-loops around me. I smirk and give a boost of speed, flying past her reach before doubling back and flying right at her. She dodges around me laughing all the while. I chase after her for a while before touching her foot.

"Tag!" I shout, remembering one of the muggle games that we had been taught in Muggle Studies a couple of years ago. It was a game similar to snidgit that most magical children played. I'd told the Marauders and Ann all about it after learning about it in class. Remus, James, and Peter had laughed and shaken their heads, realizing exactly what game it sounded like, but Ann seemed to be amazed by the concept. When asked if she had even played snidgit as a kid, she hadn't known what we were talking about.

"What? Aw, come on, not fair!" Ann shouts before taking off after me. I chuckle and turn a one eighty, heading off in the opposite direction of what I had been going. She tries to tag me, but I use the sloth grip roll and avoid it.

"You're going to have to do better than that to get me!" I shout, laughing.

She growls, a smile growing on her face, "I'll get you yet Black."

"Then come on," I shout, "Give me a challenge!"

"Just cause you play on the Quidditch team."

"Yeah, as a beater, not a seeker."

She narrows her eyes and flies toward the sky. I try to follow her, but the sun gets in my eyes. I mock myself for my own stupidity. Of course she was going to fly into the sun! On instinct I fly off toward the water, diving down a little so that I could reach down and touch it, using the reflection to watch my friend tail me. Weaving along the rocks I race toward the lagoon that Reg and I used to swim at with our Uncle Alphard. Once in the area where I know I'll be able to swim without worrying about the currents too much I use another sloth grip roll to look up at Ann. Giving a smile and mock salute, my hands release the broom handle and I fall down into the water.

When I resurface, I notice Ann drifting above me on her broom, one foot dangling to my left by about six inches.

"Feeling better?" She asks, eyebrows raised and a smile on her face.

"Not yet."

Moving quickly I grab her foot and pull her into the water next to me. When Ann breaks the water, sputtering and trying to wipe the water from her eyes while maintaining a glare at me, I grin.

"Now," I say, "I feel better."

**AN/ I think this is one of my fastest updates. Tell me what you think about the story, because I'm trying to figure out how long to make the summer chapters, and I'm thinking only 2 more in the summer at most. **

**Thank you to xoxo fanfics for your review, it got my muses chattering which helped get this chapter out.**


	4. Of Missing Children

Weeks after our swimming, Ann and I find ourselves working out in one of the exercise rooms. I'd always known that she was a good runner, fast in the sprint with plenty of endurance for the long run, but what I hadn't known, or James, Remus, and Peter now that I think about it, was that she trained to get that. She ran every day and always at least for a half hour. When I had asked her why she didn't run according to distance, she said that you could never tell how far or how long you would have to run for anything. After admitting to her view I joined her in her training.

Today, after the running, the two of us were working on some sparring. It had taken much begging and pleading, but Ann had relented and started to teach me hand to hand.

"Come on Sirius, focus," she says, landing a smart rap to my head, "That's the fourth time I've hit you in a row."

"You've also had more practice," I counter.

She chuckles, blocking a couple of attacks, "Your point is?"

"Bitch," I tease, growling as she aims a kick toward my stomach. Grabbing the leg, I pull, causing her to come flying toward me and lose her balance. I catch her and hold her up so she doesn't fall.

She lets go of a breath and the air tickles my face. "Good move," she whispers.

I let go of her when she hits a pressure point and scowl at the slight pain it causes. Ann walks toward some of the swords on the wall and picks up a scimitar, the sword that she's currently trying to master. She already has mastered the katana, her favorite sword, and has almost mastered the small sword.

"Grab a sword," she instructs.

I grab a rapier and take up the standard ready position with it. I'm decent with the katana, but prefer the English long sword and am working on this style.

Soon the sound of clashing metal echoes throughout the room, and both of us are sweating and then panting. We had just been placed with each other as partners in this little camp that our fathers had set up, and we only had a week where we would be partnered and then a week where it became everyone for themselves. It's hard to believe that any of us would have learned something from the others, but we have. Granted, most of what we learned from Tessa and Bellatrix were things not to do and how to avoid being hexed, but from our brothers we actually did some decent research and found some things out.

I notice an opening that Ann left and try using it to my advantage when she blocks it with a chuckle.

"You're going to have to do better than that Sirius," She says, aiming a swipe at my legs. I quickly block and move to make another attack when someone clears their throat. We both turn to see father and Lord Grimwood standing in the doorway.

"You've received your Hogwarts letters," father says, "Get changed, we're going to Diagon Ally."

"Come on Ann, they're big boys now, they can take care of themselves," I mutter.

She sighs, "Yeah, I know. But I can't help it. I've always looked after him and made sure he doesn't get hurt."

"Well, they are asking for it," at her look I continue, "Hey, look at them. After everything that we've taught them, they're standing in the middle of the street and not even paying attention to their surroundings."

"Fine," Ann huffs, then a wicked grin appears on her face, "Plus it ought to be fun."

I chuckle, "There's the Ann that I know and love. Come on."

Blending into the shadows, we sneak up to the two idiots who we have been looking after for years. I smile and throw the water on them, which is soon followed by the confetti that Ann is holding. The two sputter and glance around, glaring into the shadows right where we stand.

"Not funny," Remus grumbles, picking a bit of blue confetti from his hair, "Not funny one bit."

"And what did you think James? You've been rather quiet," I ask, voice showing fake concern.

James looks at me, water dripping onto his face and confetti in his hair, "I already had a shower today, I didn't need another one. Plus my hair is messy enough without you adding more mess to it."

I bark out a laugh, "Oh, you enjoyed it."

"True, but it seemed rather uninspired."

"Mate, shut your mouth."

"Don't like the truth?"

"You do something better in the two minutes we had to plan."

Ann rolls her eyes and turns to Remus, "So how was your summer?"

"Not too bad. My family managed to go to France to visit some relatives and we enjoyed the sun and whatnot. I managed to get a side job working in a muggle shop for a couple of months and earned some money. I placed it in Gringotts, hopefully it can earn some interest while I'm in school." Remus gives a shrug.

"What was it like to work during the summer? To not have all the time in the world to do what you want?" James asks, eyebrows raised.

"It was part time work, so I still had free time. It's just nice to know I have a bit of money."

I nod, "It's always nice to have pocket money."

Remus and James look at me with incredulous looks.

"Sirius," James says as though speaking to a small child, "Your family is practically rolling in just the interest on the money you have."

I nod, "Key word, family. Not me. Mother and father haven't given me much in the way of money since first year."

"Define not much," James says.

I feel my face flush and turn away. A hard smacking noise tells me that Ann or Remus probably punched James's arm.

"Ow! Damn it Grimwood!"

I give a slight chuckle and turn back to the group. Ann has this scowl on her face, but her deep violet eyes and the smirk that's threatening to escape tell me that she's not really upset. Remus is openly laughing, and James is pouting like a kid who didn't get the lolly.

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

After I punch James, I look around in interest before pulling the boys to the bookstore with me. Actually it was more like pulling James and Sirius to the bookstore with the help of Remus.

"You know," I whisper in Sirius's ear, "For the reading that you did this summer, stepping into a bookstore shouldn't be the end of the world."

"It's the principle of the thing!" Sirius whines.

Huffing, I walk past him and start to browse the shelves. While I'm looking at the different titles I can feel someone's eyes follow me, so I start to observe the crowd. Finally noticing the woman standing by the transfiguration section I meet her gaze steadily before waving enthusiastically. She throws her nose to the air and walks away. I slowly follow her around the store, mocking her every move by making an exaggerated version of it. From the corner of my eye I notice the boys chuckling and trying not to laugh too loud. Giving a smirk, I keep up the act until I feel someone grab the collar of my shirt. My eyes widen as I am turned around to face the person. It's an older gentleman and he looks quite upset.

"Do you think you're funny mocking a member of a Noble house?" he snaps.

Pulling myself from his grasp and narrowing my eyes, I sneer, "Actually yes. And I must warn you that if you touch the heir to one of a Noble and Most Ancient house again then you _will_ regret it!"

His eyes narrow, "Oh, you're of a Noble and Most Ancient house? Why don't I believe you?"

"Maybe because it takes a while for information to penetrate that thick skull of yours. Now, let me pass by." I leave the 'or else' implied.

"Why you plebian!" the man snarls.

Growing tired of his antics I show him the family ring that I've worn since being officially named heir. At seeing that his eyes widen and he backs away, shaking in slight fear. Brushing past him, I feel my stomach drop at that reaction and try to brush it off. When I finally find the boys, Remus is holding a little kid.

I blink, "Well, this is unexpected. I never figured you to become a father so young Remmy."

"What? I-no!" Remus flushes.

James shakes his head, "Aw, trust Ann to make a mockery of a serious situation."

I shrug, "I can't help it. So, where did you pick up the kiddie?"

"She was just running down the alley, looking around at everything in amazement when she bumped into Malfoy. Obviously someone had to help her," Remus says.

I nod and lean in to the girl, holding out my hand, "I'm Ann, what's your name?"

She takes my hand and gives a small shake, "Penny."

"It's lovely to meet you Penny. Where's your mommy?"

"London."

I glance at the boys before returning to the girl, "You mean she isn't in Diagon Alley?"

The girl blinks, "Where's Diagon Ally?"

James frowns, "Penny, is your mommy a witch or your daddy a wizard?"

"Only when we're playing games at home."

By now, Sirius has returned and shakes his head, "No good. No one knows who she is or where she came from. Some people saw her running around and playing before the incident with the blonde bast-"

"Sirius!" Remus cuts him off.

Sirius gives a sheepish grin.

Shaking my head, I hold my arms out for the girl and Remus hands her over. I give her a smile and pull a sucker out of my jeans pocket. Her eyes widen and she bites her lip.

"Mommy says I'm not allowed to take candy from strangers," Penny whispers.

I nod, "That's good advice. Would you feel better if I told you a little bit about myself so we aren't strangers anymore?"

Penny thinks about it for a moment then nods with a huge grin on her face.

"Well, My name is Ann Grimwood. I'm fifteen years old and I will turn sixteen this fall. I have four really good friends and their names are Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter."

Her eyes widen and she points to the three boys around us. I nod.

"Yep! You've meet all of them except Peter," I glance at the boys, "You haven't seen Pete by chance have you?"

They all shake their heads.

I give a slight frown then turn back to Penny, "My favorite colors are purple, red, and black. I love to fly and read, and I am really good at getting into trouble."

"It's bad to get into trouble," Penny frowns.

"Yes it is. But the trouble I get into doesn't hurt anyone. It's more to have fun," I explain, "I like to play minor pranks on people."

Her eyebrows come together before she looks up, "Like tying a string around the water hose on the kitchen sink so daddy gets wet?"

I look at the boys with confusion and they shrug. I smile at the girl, "Yeah, like that."

"Oh, ok. So are we friends now?" she asks.

"Yeah, but I need to know one thing before you get your sucker."

She nods.

"What's your favorite color?"

Penny thinks for a moment before looking at me with a smile, "Blue! Like the sky is right now!"

The four of us look up and then back down at the girl. I hand her the sucker and she pops it into her mouth happily.

Remus speaks up, "Well, we need to get her back to her parents. That means we have to go into London."

"But where would they be?" James asks.

"Imagine if you were lost in Diagon Alley, where would your mum look?" Sirius asks, "In all the big shops and she would probably ask an Auror if there was one around."

I smirk, "Imagine that. Sirius does have a brain."

"You little b-"

"Sirius!"

"I was going to say brat."

"Sure you were."

James chuckles, "How about instead of standing around here we go find Penny's mother?"

We all head toward the exit of the Alley and I frown slightly. If the girl was able to see the Leaky Cauldron and get into the Alley then she was magic, but if her parents didn't know about it then they weren't. Definite muggle-born then. Oh merlin, her mother must be panicking. I know any good mother would. Shifting Penny, I give a frown when we enter the Leaky Cauldron and stop the boys. I head over to the bar and wait for Tom to finish with his business.

"Hey Tom, did you see this girl run in earlier?" I ask.

Tom looks at Penny and nods, "Yep, she's really friendly. Anything I can get you little miss?"

Penny looks at me with a frown and when I nod she turns back to Tom, "Apple juice?"

Tom smiles, "One apple juice, coming right up." He pulls a juice carton out from under the bar and hands it to her. Penny puts the straw in and smiles at Tom.

"How much?" I ask, getting ready to pull out my change purse.

"Nothing for it, though I have to tell you, she didn't come in with anyone," Tom says before turning to another customer.

I flip a galleon onto the counter and walk back to the boys.

"Let me guess, she didn't come in with anyone," Sirius says.

I shake my head.

"Ok, so let's go and try to find her mum," James says before walking out of the tavern.

Following James, I wonder how long this will take.

"I want my mum," Penny says.

I can tell from memory of when Rowan was this young that she's tired and really is missing her mum. I know that as much as she likes us as friends, that she wants the comfort that she knows.

"We're looking, Penny," James says, "We'll find her."

Penny's bottom lip starts to tremble and her eyes start to water.

"Oh, honey. Hey, do you want to see Sirius for a little bit?" I ask. Sirius looks at me with wide eyes and tries to make discreet 'no' motions, but when Penny nods he gives a sigh and picks her up.

"Hey Penny," he says, "did you ever hear the story of Princess Penny?"

She shakes her head and listens as he spins a tale for her. He'll occasionally ask her a question such as 'What do you think happened next?' or 'What would you do?'. The story was actually quite good and he kept Princess Penny as a person who could do things by herself. When the story was done Penny seemed happier and a little more content. She put her head on Sirius's shoulder and just watched as different people walked by.

"Ok, so where else can we look?" Remus asks, glancing around at the different buildings that were in the area, "I doubt her mother would have gone very far."

Then, almost as if on cue, we hear someone yelling for Penny.

"Penny! Penny! Penny, where are you?"

Penny's head perked up, "Mum?"

"Penny? Penny!"

"Mum!" Penny shouts. Sirius blinks a couple of times before giving his head a slight shake.

I turn around, looking for the woman who was shouting. Finally I notice a woman with the same features as Penny looking around frantically. Motioning for the boys to follow I head for the woman. When we get close enough for her and Penny to see each other she rushes over to Sirius and Penny leans away, arms outstretched to her mother. Once close enough, Sirius lets go as her mother grabs onto her daughter and Penny's arms wrap around her neck, burying her face in the crook of her neck and shoulder.

"I don't know how to thank you enough for finding her," the woman says, "I almost had a heart attack when I couldn't see her anymore. I'd only turned for a second and she was gone."

I nod, "Ma'am, I have a question to ask that may seem rather…odd."

The woman looks weary, but nods.

"Have you ever noticed things happening around Penny when she gets upset? I mean if she gets really upset. They might be something that you would never expect to happen. Flickering lights, things floating, or Penny may suddenly have a toy that she wanted, but couldn't get," I say, voice low so only the boys and Penny and her mum could hear, "Has anything like that happened before?"

Penny's mother hesitates before nodding, "Yes, but I swear, it's not Penny's fault."

I smile, "Actually it is, but she doesn't mean for it to happen. Would you come with me and my friends for a late lunch? I know just the place that would be brilliant and I doubt that you've had anything to eat searching for Penny."

The woman seems hesitant, and Remus steps forward.

"Ma'am, you can trust us. I promise we're just going to go to lunch. And we'll be able to show you where Penny went."

This seems to persuade the woman and she nods. Remus leads the way and him and James converse with the woman, telling her what a good girl Penny had been and how we came into knowing her.

Sirius looks at me, "Are you sure that you want to do this? We could end up in serious trouble with the ministry for showing a muggle Diagon Alley."

"We're always in Sirius trouble with you around," I joke, Sirius groans and gives me a light glare, "Oh come on, I haven't made nearly the amount of puns with your name that I could've."

"True."

"But yeah, we could get into trouble with the ministry, but the way I see it, it's better to tell her. After all, Penny could easily walk in there again, and I want her to know what to do if it happens again." I shrug, "Plus since when have I ever been worried about what those ministry idiots think?"

Sirius chuckles and places his hands in his pockets.

"By the way," I say, "You're really good with kids."

He rolls his eyes and gives me a like with a raised eyebrow.

I laugh as we arrive at the Leaky Cauldron. Penny looks excited again and is prattling on about all the exciting things that her mother is going to see and of all the nice people here and of all the interesting things that she told her were fake but aren't. I smile at the girl's rambling and look to the mother who looks quite confused as to why we were standing outside of a decrepit looking building.

"Gab a hold of one of us ma'am, we'll lead you through the door." Remus offers the woman one of his arms and leads her through once she grabs a hold.

Sirius and James motion for me to go ahead of them and I roll my eyes, muttering about Gryffindors under my breath.

Remus is explaining things to the woman and I walk over to Tom and ask for five menus.

"Did you find the girl's mother?" he asks.

I nod, "Yep. Muggle, that's why she couldn't see this fine establishment."

Tom gives a light laugh, "Why Miss Grimwood, if you aren't careful one might say that you're trying to charm me."

"Well then they might have a case in point there," I grin, "But who wouldn't want to charm such a gentleman like you?"

Tom hands me the menus with a smile, "Alright, get out of here you devilish girl."

I flash him a smile, "Thanks Tom."

Finding the group seated at a booth I hand out the menus and listen to what they're talking about now.

"So, you mean to tell me that Penny is a witch?" the woman asks.

All of us nod, "That's the only way she would see the Leaky Cauldron."

The woman sighs and looks at her daughter with a grin. Penny smiles at her mother and takes another sip of the apple juice that had just appeared.


	5. Of Starting Fifth Year

Groaning, I glare at the sunlight streaking into the train compartment, waking me up from the wonderful nap that I was taking. Giving a bit of grumbling, I glance around and see that the compartment is empty, excepting the owls that were asleep in the upper racks. Furrowing my brows in confusion, I exit the compartment and start walking down the train, becoming steadily more worried as I see more and more empty compartments. I glance out a window to see the landscape flying by.

"What happened to everyone?" I mutter. I start to jog, trying to keep my calm and thinking about a good reason as to why there isn't anyone on the train. I remember stepping on with the boys. I remember Remus having to go up to the Prefect's compartment.

Seeing another empty compartment I frown, "Sirius? Remus?" Empty compartment, "James? Peter?" Empty compartment, "Evans?" Empty compartment, "Snape? Anyone?"

Finally I reach the driver's compartment and even the driver isn't there. By now I'm really starting to freak out. Turning on my heel I run back to the opposite end of the train and throw open the doors where they store things. When I see what's inside my heart drops to my stomach and I can't breathe. Taking a tentative step inside, I feel the floor is slick and glance down. Crimson black now colors the floor, and I jump back, eyes widening and breath increasing. A sound behind me makes me spin around and a troop of black robed and white masked figures stand there, their wands aimed at me.

"How dare you?" I shout, pulling at my bravado, hiding how scared I am.

The one in front pulls off their mask and gives a smirk I'm all too familiar with, "We dare a lot."

"Ann?"

I start, looking around in confusion. Sirius and Remus, who must have returned from his prefect duties, are right in front of me, watching with concern. James and Peter are just beyond them, but still look worried.

"What? Huh? How? Where are the robes?" I ask, still confused.

Sirius frowns, "Robes? What robes? Our school robes? We don't put them on till later, remember?"

I blink, gathering my wits and gaining my bearings.

"Ann," Remus says, "You were dreaming-"

"Nightmare," I mutter.

"About what?" Peter asks.

I glance at him, then to the other boys in turn before shaking my head. Something about that dream had felt too…odd. The compartment door opens and Evans steps in.

"Remus, I was looking for you, we were supposed to patrol five minutes ago, remember?" she pauses, "What's wrong with Grimwood?"

I bristle, "Nothing to worry about Evans. Nice badge."

She frowns, "No need to get upset about it."

"I just don't like people talking about me as if I'm not in the room."

"I'm sorry, but maybe I didn't want a sarcastic comment in return for my concern."

I bite my tongue and take a breath before looking out the window. I could see Evans's reflection pull herself higher and turn back to Remus.

"I'll wait outside. Whenever you're ready."

With that she exits, shutting the door behind her. Remus sighs, dipping his head down as though tired by the whole exchange.

"Can't you at least try to get along with her?" Remus sighs.

"I'll try when she does."

"I suppose it's too much to ask you to be the bigger person?"

I don't answer and Remus shakes his head before walking outside.

"That's one thing I've never understood. Why don't you and Evans get along?" James asks.

I look at him, "We just don't. I think we're too different to truly get along."

"I think you two are a lot more alike than you both would like to admit."

Eyes flashing, I turn to Sirius, "Oh really? How the hell am I like that teacher's pet?"

"You're both smart. You're stubborn. Good with hexes. You both love to read. You're both the only people who are able to, somewhat, keep me and James-"

"James and I," I correct automatically since Remus isn't here.

"Right, James and I, in line. Neither of you are particularly girly, though she's a little more feminine than you. You both have firecracker tempers. You both hate pink. You're loyal to your friends. Plus you're both the top females of our year, with Evans beating you by a few points." Sirius finishes his list with a smug grin.

Shaking my head, I frown, "It's more than that though, we just…don't get along."

"Maybe Remus is right," James says, "Maybe you should try."

I smirk at him, "You just want me to become friends with her so I can get in a good word for you."

James has the decency to blush and faces the window.

"_In the days of swordsmen and knights  
>There stood magicians four.<br>They wished to set to rights,  
>And here is where we learn the lore.<em>

_From each direction they did come,  
>Strangers first, did become friends.<br>And here is where it troubles some,  
>For how could a strong bond meet such ends?<em>

_Dear Gryffindor, of noble heart,  
>did set it straight from the start,<br>His students were to be of courage and nerve,  
>For their friends they did serve.<em>

_Loyal Hufflepuff wished just that,  
>her students morally knew where they sat,<br>They were to be patient and just,  
>Working hard as they must.<em>

_Open Ravenclaw did decree,  
>that learning would be utmost to thee,<br>Her students were to be sharp of wit,  
>To devour knowledge like a flame lit.<em>

_Mischievous Slytherin was heard to speak,  
>that students physically weak,<br>could utilize quick cunning,  
>and pure ambition for skills they were lacking.<em>

_Though these friends were close,  
>Fires from different opinions arose.<br>Until the day did one leave,  
>And three were left with trust like a sieve.<em>

_But before their end they did decide,  
>A way to sort the students fair,<br>In the case they should have died,  
>To the houses which they would share.<em>

_Gryffindor pulled me from his head,  
>And placed me where he sat,<br>They gave me abilities which I need and then said,  
>Their fate is yours, dear sorting hat.<em>

_So step forward,  
>Don't be shy,<br>You've been warned,  
>I never lie."<em>

I applaud with the rest of the people before glancing at the guys, "Song was a bit long this year eh?"

Pete shrugs, "He was probably really bored last year."

Remus's eyes light up for a moment and he pulls out a piece of parchment and starts scribbling away madly.

"Why do I get the feeling that dear Remmy has a wonderfully devious idea?" Sirius mutters, a smirk on his face.

"Probably cause he usually has his homework done before we arrive at school," James says.

"And he never-"

"Ever uses-"

"Pocket parchment-"

"For anything-"

"Other than mischief!"

I glance between James and Sirius, eyebrows raised, "You two aren't even twins, how in merlin's fuzzy left nut do you do that?"

"Trade secret," Sirius says.

James continues, "We could tell you,"

"But we'd have to kill you," they finish in unison.

Rolling my eyes I turn my attention back to the sorting, clapping when the people are sorted. I really don't give a damn where they get sorted to. Honestly, with Rowan in Slytherin, I've learned quite a bit of tolerance, something I wish James and Sirius would learn. Granted, they left Regulus and Rowan alone, but they were really biased against other members of the snake den. When the sorting finishes, Dumbledore stands, gives his usual speech and then begins the feast.

I start to eat and turn to Remmy, "So what's the plan?"

He glances up long enough to grab some food and make eye contact before giving a slight wink and smirk before returning to his work. Translation: Just wait, I'm working out the kinks.

Shrugging, I return to my food and pick up conversation that's going on around me.

"First you were all like "whoa", and we were like "whoa", and you were like "whoa...""

"Did you see the skirt Kelly is wearing? Talk about out of school code."

"Oh my god, did you hear about what happened to Martin?"

"So you know where I can get some herb from right?"

"Ghosts are real?"

I grin and watch as Sirius finishes his plate and starts to juggle dinner rolls.

"You know Sirius, you're supposed to eat your food, or play with it on your plate, not juggle it," I comment.

He grins, "But this is so much more fun. And look! It entertains the firsties!"

Chuckling, I leave him to it and start up a conversation with Marlene McKinnon. The girl was one of two girls in our dorm who I considered down to earth, the other I really didn't talk to. Soon the feast ends and we're all sent up to our dorms. I get the password from Remus, and Marlene and I take the shortcuts up to the tower and relax while we can.

Once the first years are brought up by Remus and Evans, I wait for a bit before heading up the boy's dorm stairs and entering the one that would be ruled by the Marauders. Sitting down on a random bed I wait for the four of them to arrive. After a couple of minutes the door opens and they come in, talking all at once trying to be louder than the one next to them, laughing, and overall just being them.

I smirk when they stop in surprise at seeing me, "Well, close the door, we have business to attend to."

Sirius closes the door and the drapes on the windows. James turns the lights down and pulls out extra pillows and blankets. Peter opens his trunk and pulls out a medium sized box. Remus pulls out a couple of books from his trunk along with a large pad of parchment bound on one side. I place up the privacy spells and monitoring charms. All of this was second nature by now. This happens every time that the boys plan a prank, and I have been privileged to participate in a couple of their bigger pranks. Dropping down into my normal seat I watch as each of the boys gets more comfortable, taking off ties, robes, shoes, and vests or sweaters. I already rid myself of those annoying articles when I arrived here with Marlene.

"Alright, so what's the plan Remmy?" Sirius asks.

Remus grins, "We're going to steal the Sorting Hat."

**AN/ Hey ya'll. Ok, so I was reading through Crystalline Glass, when I noticed that there are chapters missing from the story. I'm thinking I'm going to rework that story, make it easier to read and add in those chapters, so I'm letting you know if you have an alert on CG don't freak out if you get a "New Chapter" alert and wonder if your computer is possessed. ANYWAY! I'm going to ask nicely, please review. They make me happy and help me write.**


	6. Of Plans and Thievery

We all sit there, shocked. This is Remus, no correction, Remus who happens to be a prefect, who is suggesting that we steal something. I lean across the room and put a hand to his forehead.

"Yep, running a fever."

Remus swats my hand away, a slight smile on his face, "Thank you for the concern Ann, but I'm in perfect health."

James and Sirius look at each other before shrugging. It was something that I'd learned through spending endless hours with the four of them. James and Sirius were the unofficial leaders of the group. Each one led differently, but they both did a really good job. Remus and Peter mainly followed what the other two said, but they both had valued opinions in the group.

James was the man with the ideas, he was the main person who came up with their pranks. As the local Transfiguration expert he was responsible for taking care of things that were in that branch of magic.

Sirius was the guy who figured them all out, all the little details that needed being put together. Sirius, being best in potions and charms, often was in charge of working out the kinks with those aspects of the pranks. He also was able to help keep the group hidden by bending the magic around them to hide the boys in the shadows.

Remus was also the best at Defense, and he was their warning system. One of the good things about being a werewolf means increased senses, such as hearing and sight and smell. Remus did most of the research, and he then taught the guys the spells needed.

Peter is the one to make sure they can get into wherever they need to, since he has ties into each house, excepting Slytherin. He knew the most about herbology and was often called in to identify a plant or to get the ones that were needed for whatever.

"Ok, so here's the plan," Remus says, "You know that Dumbledore keeps the Hat in his office when it's not in use, right?"

We all nod. After all the times of being up there, we all had that office memorized and could probably maneuver around it as well as, if not better than, the Headmaster himself.

"Well, we're going to need two teams. One will be the retrieval team and the other is going to be the distraction team. We need something loud enough that it will bring Dumbledore's attention to it and cause him to leave the office," Remus explains. He grabs a bar of Honeydukes and breaks it into small pieces, slowly eating the chocolate.

"If you have a big enough distraction then you won't need people who are exceptionally sneaky to steal the hat," James says.

I shake my head, "You forget the portraits. We know that Dumbles uses them for reconnaissance."

James nods, "I'd forgotten about them."

"How? We spend enough time standing in front of them," Sirius chuckles.

"I now just tune it all out!" James counters, "And you can't tell me that you don't do the same thing."

"I'd never deny it," Sirius says, then smirks, "Unless it was beneficial to do so."

Remus rolls his eyes, "Anyway, back on topic. I was thinking that Ann and Sirius should steal the hat."

I pause, blinking in surprise. I expected to have to be in the distraction group. After all I know quite a few spells that make things go 'Boom' and make other loud noises.

"Why Ann and me?" Sirius asks, showing how surprised he is by passing by a chance to annoy Remus with improper grammar.

Remus sighs, obviously thinking that the reason should be plain, "Because, you and Ann are able to hide yourselves better than we are in the shadows. Also we know that Dumbledore placed that one spell on his office and he can tell if someone walks in under an invisibility cloak. You two are the only ones who will be able to sneak in and not get caught."

I frown then shrug. Remus thought this through during the entire dinner, so he knew what he was talking about. Besides, it's not like Sirius and I hadn't worked together on pranks before, take the Chicken Incident of 1973 for example. I don't think Professor Kettleburn has looked at poultry the same way since.

James nods, "Makes sense, so what're Pete and I going to be up to?"

"I'm leaving that to you. Just make sure that it's loud, obnoxious, distracting, and able to attract Dumbledore's attention," Remus says, "But you cannot, I repeat CANNOT, cause harm to anyone or make something that is permanently on the school."

James and Peter nod, before ducking their heads together and planning some things.

"So what are you doing Remus?" I ask.

Remus grins, "I am going to make sure that we have an alibi."

Sirius chuckles and looks at Remmy in amusement, "And how are you going to do that?"

Remus flicks his wand and mutters a spell. In front of Sirius a carbon copy of the boy appears. When the copy opens its eyes, Sirius's widen. We all watch in amazement as Sirius looks like he's messing with a mirror.

"Hi," Sirius says.

The copy blinks and tilts its head, "H-h-hi. Hi. Hi!"

I turn to Remus, "What spell is that?"

Remus opens his bag and pulls out a leather bound book, flipping through the pages until he reached the one he was looking for. Handing it to me, I notice that the words are in Remus's print. So this must be his personal journal.

Maquette Humaine- Origin French- Spell used to copy a person's mannerisms, personality and speech. Works best when used once around the person so the spell can copy their original.

Nodding, I hand the book back to Remus.

"So where'd you find that spell?" I ask.

"It was in one of the older spell books the library has. It's on illusions."

"Would that book happen to be in the restricted section?"

"Maybe."

Sirius grins, "Way to go Remmy!"

Remus gives a slight blush and shoots Sirius a look, "I am a Marauder, you know."

"Sometimes we're concerned," Sirius says, eyeing up the prefects badge.

"Just because I have a better cover for people believing me than you do," Remus counters.

Sirius waves him off and turns to me, "You remember how to bend your magic right?"

I scoff, "Who taught you?"

Sirius narrows his eyes at me, flicking a wrapper into my hair.

I pull it out, glaring at him before tackling the boy and wrestling with him. He manages to pin my arms behind my back, and I kick his thigh. He lets go to dodge away. I turn into the wolf and give a playful growl before taking up the standard canine position for 'Let's play!' Fore legs on the ground with butt in the air and tail whipping back and forth. Sirius turns into the bear like dog that is his animagus and within moments we are having a mock fight.

"Woah, hold up a minute!"

I pause in nipping at Sirius's ear to look at who spoke. The boys look weird in black and white. James, Remus and Peter are staring at the two of us with wide eyes and dropped mouths.

James speaks up again, "Since when have you been able to transform Sirius?"

Sirius looks at me and changes back into human form. I just continue to lay in his lap, the dog part of me not caring that I'm probably crushing his stomach.

"Since the summer," Sirius explains, "I practiced and then one day I ended up with my tail stuck and Ann just had me keep practicing cause there was no way to get rid of it. I managed the transformation that day."

The marauder is petting my head and he starts to scratch behind my ear. I let out a noise of contentment and settle down. This is the life.

A few days later and Sirius and I are sneaking toward the Headmaster's office. We wait for the other two to start their distraction once we reach an alcove just across from the gargoyle. I glance at him and he taps his right ear. We both bend our magic so that it matches the shadows perfectly, hiding us in plain sight.

While we wait, I try to keep my mind off of the news. Voldemort had struck out, and he had struck out in a major way. The town of Keln's Breech had been raided last night. Thirty five people were killed immediately, another sixty died of injuries, and eighty people were unaccounted for. If they were still in the rubble or if they had been captured was unknown.

Shaking my head slightly to disrupt the thoughts, I hear the one thing that means we are underway. The screams of sheer utter paranoia, shock, and rage. The Marauders have struck again. Moments later, the door to the Headmaster's office shifts open and he comes out, briskly walking. The both of us spring into action immediately, shifting and moving through the corridor with ease and we reach the door before it closes.

I touch my right middle finger to the thumb of the same hand twice and Sirius moves to the side, motioning for me to continue ahead of him. I smirk and place a silencing charm on my feet before climbing the stairs, wrapping my magic around me more, feeling it envelop my body like a blanket. When we reach the stairs, the door is unlocked and we slip in silently, taking care to close the door in a way so that it won't squeak.

Sirius touches my shoulder to get my attention and then taps his nose twice. I roll my eyes at him and shake my head in a definite 'no'. We have a mini argument for a few moments.

'I don't care, you're too loud.'

'Am not. I've practiced!'

'On what?'

'The lock to your trunk.'

'YOU WHAT?'

'Kidding.'

'Sirius Black. You are a prat.'

'I've also got the sorting hat. Let's go.'

Holding back the sigh/growl of aggravation I want to let out, I take my time slowly descending the stairs. I don't know if the distraction is done, and if it isn't then it would be better for me to be caught than it would be for Sirius to be. After all, I wasn't the one carrying around stolen property.

Once I deem the coast as clear, I motion for him to follow, and we take off at a run, the silencing charm still effectively keeping our movements silent. When we reach a certain point, I pull Sirius into a passage and maneuver through the school until we reach one of the unused classrooms.

Grabbing the hat I pull it on my head.

_"Miss Grimwood, long time no see. I have to admit that it is rather shocking to be taken from the office of the Headmaster like this."_

'Sorry, but we were kinda in a hurry,' I think back, 'You don't mind do you?'

_"Goodness no! It's horribly dreadfully boring up there."_

'You do realize that you made horribly redundant when you used dreadfully right?'

_"Yes. So what is it that you need from me Miss Grimwood?"_

'Actually, here's what you're gonna do.'

With Sirius acting as the look out, I outline the idea to the hat, smirking when it gives a chuckle at the end of the explanation.

_"Miss Grimwood, that is truly an ambitious prank. Who came up with it?"_

'Remus Lupin did.'

_"Ah yes. Yet another member of the Marauders who I wanted to put into Slytherin who refused."_

'Just how many of them did you want to place there?'

_"Three. Mister Lupin, Mister Black, and yourself, Miss Grimwood."_

'I'm not a Marauder.'

_"Not in name, but regardless. I will help you."_

'Thank you.'

Taking off the hat, I turn to Sirius with a grin, "He'll do it."

Sirius smirks, "Excellent."

**AN/ Hello ff.n land! I would like to ask a couple of questions. Are you reading this? Do you like it? Do you have an idea of why the sorting hat is needed? The mini argument that Sirius and Ann have is silent and uses a sign language that they made up, just in case you were confused on that point. Oh, I just remembered, I need your help. I need fictional characters who would be a personality fit, ironic outlook, or a showcase of their darker side for the following characters:**

**~Remus Lupin ~James Potter ~Lily Evans ~Minerva McGonagall ~Albus Dumbledore**

**An example would be, and no this isn't the one I'm using, Ann's character should be Mulan because they both kick ass/are intelligent/like to read. Thanks a bunch, and please review. **


	7. Of Characters and Costumes

I put the last timed spell on Dumbledore's plate and smirk at the boys. Remus nods and goes back to his parchment, which held all of his calculations and little details that had been worked out. Sirius gives a smirk of his own and finishes working on the doors, whistling a tune as he walks towards the group once he finished. Peter keeps watch on the teacher's entrance, knowing that one of them could walk in at any moment. James flies down from the rafters, smiling the entire way.

I shake my head, this has to be one of the most complex pranks ever pulled. Glancing outside, I reason that it's around four in the morning and that we should be getting back to the tower before Minnie makes her rounds.

"Come on boys, Minnie is going to be up and about in a few, we need to get back to the tower," I say.

Remus nods, rolling up his paper. The rest of the Marauders follow and soon we're heading out the doors.

"Oh! Wait a moment!" Remus whispers, turning back toward the hall. He flicks his wand, muttering a spell, and a bright orange spell flies out of it and moves to the middle of the room before dissipating. "Ok, now we can leave."

The five of us sneak back up to the tower, only having one close call with Mrs. Norris, but she's easily taken care of. Once in the tower we end up in the boy's dorm where we all just burst out laughing.

"Oh Merlin! Who knew that you'd use that spell?" James says between laughter.

I pat Remus on the back, "You know, I thought that you'd take your prefect duty a lot more seriously than that."

Remus shrugs, "I've lived with these three for too long to ever completely go turncoat. Besides, if I give them exercise in pranking then they'll be more likely to listen to me in the future."

"Ah, that's quite cunning of you Messer Moony!" James says.

Rolling my eyes, I walk over to Sirius's trunk and pull it away from the wall, ignoring his indignant cries. I tap my wand against the proper brick and then pull out a couple of bottles of liquor, tapping one of them so it disappears into my trunk. As I straighten, I hold up the mead that they got from Rosemerta and the Firewhiskey from Aberforth.

"Who's up for some fun?"

Remus gives me the look of 'You know better than that!', but I ignore that and just toss him the mead.

~+~ Sirius's POV ~+~

Groaning, I place a pillow over my head. What the fuck were we thinking? Thinking back, I try to count how many drinks I'd had, but can't remember if I'd had another one after six. Of course it could be that we were drinking it unmeasured, which usually means that one drink would be equal to three or four shots.

I decide that it would probably be better to just face the day and pull the pillow off my face and look around. The dorm was a mess, and Remus is going to kill us. He usually makes us keep the dorm looking somewhat neat, that way he can walk around without tripping to his death. At least that's the reason he gives us.

Pillows, bedding, books, parchment, and, oddly enough, dog hair was everywhere. Peter was curled up under his bed with a bucket next to him. James was laying on his bed the wrong way, his head down by where his feet normally go. Remus was the only normal one of us, though that idea was quickly disrupted by the lacy black bra that was hanging off of one of his bedposts. I give a slight chuckle, which stops the moment I observe my own sleeping position.

Ann lay next to me on her side, one of her arms thrown over my stomach. My eyes widen for a moment and I quickly try to remember what happened last night. I don't remember anything like that happening, and we're both fully clothed excepting our shoes, which were on top of Remus's bookcase for some reason. Sitting up, I shake Ann, trying to wake her.

"Ann, wake up!" I hiss in her ear.

She groans, "Padfoot, shut up before I disembowel you."

"Ann!" I snap, keeping my voice low enough so as not to wake Remus.

Her eyes snap open to glare at me before she flips over with a pitiful moan.

"Did anything…we didn't…er…did we?"

"No," she says, her voice slightly muffled by the pillow, "We didn't have sex, nor did we even think about it. The boys thought that we were going to at one point, but we got them with a damn good hex. I stayed here so that Evans wouldn't smell the alcohol on me."

"And the reason you picked my bed?"

"It's most comfortable and you were having a nightmare. It was the only way to keep you quiet."

I nod, not even thinking about how she wouldn't be able to see the motion, before getting out of bed, "Well, I'm going to grab a shower. I suppose you know your way around well enough that you don't need anything?"

She moves her head enough so that I can see half of her face. Her eyes are more violet today and are still a bit muddled, but the mischief spark is still there. Then she smirks. "Ok honey, see you at breakfast."

I glare at her for the 'honey' comment before walking into the bathroom, muttering under my breath about various things. I put the water on scalding and relax as it burns into my back, waking me up and snapping the hangover away. There was only one way to be instantly brought out of a hangover, and that was to have McGonagall banging on your door demanding to know why you're not in class. Luckily, we were up early enough to avoid that today. I get out of the shower and dry off, dressing quickly so that I can clean up some of the mess that is in the dorm.

Entering the dorm, I find it in a far different state than when I'd left. Everything was back to normal. Peter was even asleep on his bed and James was flipped back over. Walking over to my bed, I find a piece of parchment on it, the ink only just drying.

_Sirius,_

_Calm down, Merlin, you're gonna be worse than Remus if you don't watch it. Everything's taken care of and there's nothing for you to worry your pretty little head off. See you at breakfast darling'._

_Ann_

I roll my eyes at the note and throw it into the fire. Of course she would be functioning faster than any of us. We'd asked her once how she didn't get horrible hangovers like we did. She'd smirked and said it was the Irish in her. Remus had scoffed at that and said that her family was most likely just so full of alcoholics that it was now a genetic trait to be immune to alcohol. Ann just shrugged and said that was also likely.

Walking around the room, I wake the boys as loudly as possible, earning glares and garbled threats. When they're all awake enough to listen, but not moving enough I just stand in the middle of the room and shrug.

"Fine, don't blame me when McGonagall comes knocking on the door again, wondering why you're not in class," I say. Those words seem to be precisely what was needed, as all three of them shoot up and start getting ready for the day. "I'll wait downstairs."

When I arrived in the common room it was to find that Evans was whispering furiously at Ann, who seemed to care less and was playing with a small ball of light in her palm. Deciding that it would be better to leave the girls to it, I sit at one of the tables, setting my feet on the table and watching the comings and goings of the people around me. I feel an odd mixture of excitement and dread at the upcoming prank. Since we don't want to get caught, the five of us have to take a swan dive and let ourselves get caught up in the madness too. When the rest of the guys come downstairs, I nod and follow them out. Remus looks impeccable as always, but he also looks very annoyed.

"Stop running down the hall with that, you'll poke an eye out!" he snaps at some second years running around with a Party-More Piñata Popper, one of the more…lackluster…Zonko's joke products.

James chuckles, "Have a rough night Remmy?"

Remus grumbles and hits him on the head before stalking off to tell off some fifth years picking on a third year.

"So you couldn't save me from Evans's grasp?" Ann grumbles as she walks up.

I smirk, "You looked like you were handling it well."

She smacks me in retaliation and then pulls out one of her books. I recognize it as one from the Mansion and chuckle.

"I thought we'd curbed you from that habit," I mutter, trying to make it so that James and Remus don't hear. I understood why Remus was against thievery, but not so much with James. I guess it was just a Potter thing.

"Yeah well, the book is good and I wasn't done with it. Besides, I doubt that your family will even notice that it's gone," she whispers back.

"Probably not. So when did you snag it?"

"The night before we left."

I nod and then glance at the doors of the Great Hall. The five of us have come to a complete halt. Evans walks up to Remus and starts to talk with him. Then, as one group we step through the door.

~*+)o(+*~ Third Person POV ~*+)o(+*~

Into the Great Hall step Van Helsing, Sherlock Holmes, Busujima Saeko, the Black Spy, Cameron Cortez, and Hawkeye Pierce.

"What happened?" Cameron shouts, before turning to the others, "You did this! I know you did!"

Holmes raises an eyebrow, "And what proof do you have for that deduction? Have we not been affected by this…thing…too?"

Cameron's eye twitches before she throws up her arms and walks away in a huff to sit next to the White Spy.

Hawkeye watches her walk away before shrugging, "Come on men, and lady, let's have some breakfast and get on with the day."

The five sit at Gryffindor table and after ten minutes the lights in the Great Hall dim. The Sorting Hat appears in the middle of the Staff table. The teachers start to chatter about that, apparently the Hat's MIA status had been noted, before the Hat shushes them.

"I have been given the proud job of announcing to you that you have been changed into someone from a fictional universe. You are to find out the weakness of this character that most resembles one of your weaknesses. Until you are able to do this, you will be in the form of this character," the Hat says, "If you are unaware of your character you will find a biography of them in your first class. Best of luck to you!"

Van Helsing frowns, "Well that's different than what I thought would happen."

"What, did you think that it was going to sing a song?" Saeko asks. Van Helsing gives her a glare to which she raises and eyebrow and smirks.

"Who are we anyway?" The Black spy questions.

Holmes smirks, "If you don't know you'll find out in the first class of the day. Which is Transfiguration, so we'd better hurry if we don't want to upset our dear Professor."

Right as they all move to leave, Saeko pulls out her practice sword and holds it out to her right.

"Umm…whoever you are…stop scaring the children," Van Helsing says.

"This man was about to attack you when your back was turned," Saeko says, "I suggest that you leave my friends alone."

The person, dressed up in a weird orange jumpsuit, nods quickly and backs away.

Saeko smiles at the other people before sheathing her sword and walking away.

**AN/ So my entire plot, path, whatever, for this prank ended up deleating itself from my compu,ter and now I can't remember what the bloody heck happened. Anyway, I want to give thanks to those people who reviewed, it's always nice to get feedback. Also, sorry I didn't update for such a long time. I'd meant to, but I left my flashdrive with the story on it at my dorm. **

**For anyone interested, here's a list of the other identities that the characters had. If you want, leave a review with your guesses as to who is who. Extra points to whoever gets them right! People with an * didn't show in the scene but had a character picked for them.  
><strong>**Van Helsing, Sherlock Holmes, Hawkeye Pierce, Busujima Saeko, Cameron Cortez, The Black Spy, The White Spy, Oompa Loompa*, Moriarty*, Queen of Hearts*, Hamlet*, Catwoman***


	8. Of Guilt and Close Calls

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

I sit in the back of the library and sigh. Ever since that damned prank the guys have been edgy around me. 'For good reason too. Hell, if you'd found out that one of them had a major problem with being sadistic, what would you do?' Huffing, I throw my quill at the window and watch the snow falling.

Voldemort was gaining power. The disappearances were starting to become more frequent now. There are whispers amongst the teachers and older kids, yet, we all still keep going on as if nothing is happening. There's a page devoted to missing people and to obituaries from those found dead. It's mainly the muggle-borns and squibs right now, the occasional blood traitor wanders in, but other than that, there's nothing about Voldemort. The only way I know it's him is because of the letters that Tessa, mother, and even Aunt Peggy send.

"HEY ANN!"

"Rowan, be quiet or else you'll get kicked out," I say before turning to face him, "What's going on pipsqueak?"

Rowan shrugs, "Nothing much. I'm trying to figure out what to get you for Christmas. Is there something in particular that you'd like?"

"I can think of a couple of things, but nothing that you would be able to help me with," I sigh.

"Problems with the guys?"

"Yep."

"Is it cause you beat up that sixth year."

"Uh-huh."

"Well, it did take both Remus and Sirius to pull you off of him."

"Yeah, but he was asking for it."

"I'm not saying anything against it, just a saying that maybe you freaked them out a little bit. After all, the guy was unconscious and had quite a few broken bones."

I frown, "One of those wasn't my fault."

"Really?" Rowan raises an eyebrow, "You broke his leg, causing him to fall over and break his arm trying to catch himself. How is that not your fault?"

Unable to figure a way out of it, I sigh and look at the table, "I don't know. I just couldn't help it."

"Hey, after all the crap you've been through, if you weren't the least bit sadistic, I'd be worried," Rowan smiles, "Come on, let's throw snowballs at people from the top of the west tower."

Chuckling, I pack up my bag and follow my brother, hoping that there will be plenty of people outside to drop snowballs onto.

~+~ Sirius's POV ~+~

Dodging the snowball, I glance up at the sky and mentally curse whoever is throwing them from the west tower. It's bad enough that my father sent a letter ordering that I return home for break this winter, but it's even worse that he sent it in an official letter. James said that it can't be too bad, since he didn't come to pick me up personally Remus just said to be careful, and Peter didn't know what to say. I kind of wish I could've talked with Ann, but ever since she beat that sixth year to a pulp, she's been a little weird to be around. I guess she just needs to deal with the fact that she has some…control issues…on her own.

I step into a carriage and take a seat. Staring at the snow, I'm lost in my thoughts until the carriage dips as another person climbs in.

"Is this seat taken, or am I allowed to be by the Great Sirius Black?" Regulus asks, a slight smile on his face.

Rolling my eyes, I motion for him to take the seat across from me, "You know why mother and father want us home for the holidays?"

Regulus shakes his head, "No, I can't think of anything."

Putting that to the side, I pick up a discussion with Regulus and soon find myself enjoying the ride home.

I feel an odd sort of numb fury building and glare at my father's retreating back. Never had they hit any of us, but now that line has been crossed and I'm through. Done with the comments, the looks, the being punished for just being me. I'm done.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I reach my bedroom and pull out my travel trunk. I won't be able to take many things with me, but luckily I have a lot still at Hogwarts.

"Sirius? What are you doing?"

I glance at Regulus in my mirror, "I'm leaving…and I hope you'll come with. I know mother and father are nicer to you, but they've gotten worse and I don't want you to stay here."

Regulus blinks, "You mean…you won't leave me?"

"Not unless I'm dragged away. Please come with me," I plead, hoping that he'll come.

Regulus nods and ducks into his room and starts to pack. Sighing with relief, I finish packing, shrink my case, and grab my broom. Regulus rolls his case to me and then goes to grab his broom. I shrink his case, add a featherlite charm to both and hand Reg's to him.

"Alright, we'll leave from the court yard. You have a cloak on?" I ask.

Reg nods and we slowly descend the stairs, trying not to alert our parents. When I start to open the door to the courtyard, the light in the hall is turned on. My head jerks to that direction and I see mother and father standing there.

"Damn, I knew it was too easy," I mutter.

"Going somewhere?" Mother asks.

"Yeah, we're going to play a mini game of Quidditch, want to play?" I ask.

Mother sneers, "Don't try to lie to me! You are running away and are dragging your brother along! You have beseeched this name and family for too long!"

Before I can respond, I feel something hit my chest and throw me back. My back hits the wall and I grit my teeth together. Looking up, I see that mother is preparing to send another spell at me, while father is setting up a curse to send at Regulus. Narrowing my eyes, I pull myself up and dodge mother's spell. I reach Rowan in time to push him out of the way, but not fast enough for me to get out of the way. The curse causes the feeling of an electric shock throughout my body, while my back feels like a branding iron has touched just below my left shoulder and is being held there.

"I thought you would do that. Still protecting your baby brother after all these years? Well, I hope you figure out what spell that was, because if you don't someone else will once they see the mark," Orion murmurs.

My eyes narrow, and I pull out my wand, "I'm done wasting my time with you two," I snarl, throwing a couple of spells at them, along with a spell for a smoke screen. Turning to Regulus, I tilt my head. He nods and tries to move, but finds his feet stuck.

"Damn it! What spell did they use?" Regulus mutters. He starts to undo his left foot while I work on his right. As we're working on the spell on his feet, I'm hit with a cutting curse, a bludgeoning hex, and a blasting spell. Landing on my back in the courtyard, I groan and give my head a light shake before deciding that's a bad idea. Only through sheer dumb luck of rolling over at the right time do I manage to avoid being hit by another bludgeoning hex.

Moving into a crouching position, I duck another spell, and charge forward, sending some hexes and curses back at them. Mother and father step back to go on the defensive while I run up to Regulus, and keep sending curses at our parents.

"Can you get your other foot unstuck?" I ask.

Regulus shakes his head, "No! I don't know what it is! I tried everything, including finite, but that didn't work either!"

"Ok, pull up the best shield you can Reg. I'll get your feet unstuck, but you have to keep us protected," I say.

Regulus nod, "O-ok. Just don't make me hex them."

I grin at him, "Course not! That's my job."

Getting back to work on undoing the spell, I listen to the cracking of Regulus's shield and try to speed things up, but that's when I'm hit with another curse. Flying out of the room again, I can feel the blood running down my lip and the couple of broken bones. Looking up, I keep dodging spells until I realize there's nothing I can do. Swallowing back tears, I grab my broom and take off at a run, spells hitting me and taking their damage.

"Sirius? Sirius! Don't leave me! Sirius!" Regulus calls.

Biting my lip, I jump over the small half wall and onto my broom, taking off toward the sky.

"Sirius, don't leave!"

Closing my eyes, I take off toward the stars.

"SIRIUS!"

Trying to ignore the yells that I know will never leave me.

~*~ Ann's POV ~*~

I take a sip of my hot chocolate and smile as the quarter moon lights up the castle ground. Rowan went inside about an hour ago, but it's thanks to him that my weekend has been great. For once, I wasn't thinking about something that dealt with violence, family, school, or Voldemort. That last one especially was becoming a problem. More and more of the newspaper is being taken up with information about his movements. And not all of them are obvious either. So, I really should thank Rowan for helping me relax for a few days.

Glancing up again, I see a shadow that is darker than the rest of the sky surrounding it. Frowning, I watch as it comes closer to the school. Is it some weird owl?

"What the hell?" I mutter after finally realizing that it's a person flying in on a broom. That's when I also notice that if they don't pull up, they're going to end up smashing into the tower and plummeting to the earth. Lighting my wand, I hold it above my head, a common signal meaning to pull up and land at that spot.

As they come closer, I finally recognize that it's a student. And once they're about fifty feet from the tower, I recognize the person as Sirius.

"Oh god, Merlin, and Morgana," I mutter. He lands in front of me in an odd sort of heap, letting out a yelp when his back hits the stone behind him. I place a warming spell on him and dry off his clothing, which I notice has several rips and tears in it, along with what looks like a burn mark on the left shoulder of his back.

"Sirius, what happened?" I ask, but he doesn't respond, "Sirius!"

"I ran away and left him. I can't believe I left Reg," Sirius rasps before looking up at me with wide red eyes.

I notice the tear marks that have frozen on his cheeks and how he's still turning pale, "Ok, I'm sorry that you had to leave Regulus behind, but what happened to you?"

He shakes his head, eyes far away and going farther as I watch them. Making up my mind, I pick him up as best I can. He's quite tall which makes it awkward. Normally, I would just use a spell, but I don't know how that would affect his health. When I feel the warm dampness in his cloak, my worry turns to slight panic and I take off at a run. Something happened. Something horrible happened.

Taking all the secrete passages I can, I end up at the Hospital wing quick enough. By this time, Sirius is more than a little limp and my panic is increasing. Luck is on my side in that the doors are open, and I run right into the wing.

Setting Sirius on a bed, I catch my breath enough to yell, "MADAM POMFREY!"

The matron comes running out within moments.

"Miss Grimwood! What is the fuss about? You're going to wake my patients!"

"If you don't hurry, you're going to lose a patient!" I snap. That's when she sees Sirius on the bed.

Right before Pomfrey even casts a diagnostic spell, Sirius lets out a scream of bloody murder. My eyes widen and I look over his body trying to figure out what's going on. Pomfrey casts a diagnostic spell, and various colors appear on his body. I see blue, green, yellow, purple, black, and a bit of orange on him. Having no idea what these colors mean, I turn to the nurse, my eyes wide. I may not know what they mean, but I know that having that many colors show up isn't a good thing.

"Orange is Crucio specifically, so what dark magic is the black referring to?" Pomfrey questions as she starts to work on the other problems, muttering to herself and flying around the room.

I feel my heart pounding at an insane rate. My mouth is dry and I can't help but worry about what is going on and if Sirius will even be alright. I can't help him with anything, and anything that I try would probably just hurt him.

That's when he lets out another scream and starts to thrash around. Finding a part of his body that doesn't have any colors on it, I try to hold him from moving too much.

"Madam Pomfrey, do something!" I shout.

"I don't know where the Cruciartus is coming from! Obviously none of us has a wand trained on him and the only thing I can think of is that someone placed a delay on the spell," Pomfrey says, using a few more spells to make the purple color go away.

"Too far for a delay. He wouldn't be here if this was caused by a delay. Could it be that it's being channeled through something?" I ask.

"That would take either dark magic or old magic. Stand back, I need to get him to levitate so I can work on his back."

Stepping back, I notice the burn mark on his shoulder again and when I see what is on his skin underneath I gasp.

"There! That would be a connection! It's a familiae mark. Usually only the old pureblood families use them, and even then it's only the really old and, typically, dark ones. That spell would work as a conduit," I say, "It could be removed, but it would take a hell of a lot of power. Like, Dumbledore sized power, to remove it, and even then you need permission from the person who placed the mark. Usually it's the Head of the family, but I bet that this one was placed by Orion."

"So we can't remove it?" Pomfrey asks as she places another numbing spell on Sirius, which reduces his screams. She finishes up with the rest of the injuries and turns to me.

I rack my brains for any other way to remove it, but shake my head in the negative, "No way to remove it, but I think I may be able to disconnect Orion from Sirius."

"How?" she asks.

"A bit of tricky magic," I say, pulling out my wand. Placing the tip on the mark on his shoulder, I close my eyes and push myself into the connection that Orion has with Sirius. In a moment, I can feel Orion's magical signature and give a light growl. Throwing some wild magic at it, I notice that the connection disappears almost instantly. Pulling out, I slump into a waiting chair and let out a breath. Sirius has stopped screaming, and Pomfrey sets him back on the bed, using a switching charm to place him in pajamas instead of his current clothing.

"So what was that?" she asks.

I shrug, "Honestly, I was going on instinct. I connected to that mark like it was a ward and then just hit the magical signature that wasn't Sirius's with a burst of wild magic."

"How did you know about the…familiae mark?" she asks.

"Because, last I knew, the Blacks and Grimwoods are two of the only families that use them anymore. They aren't always used to torture, but they are used to increase the power of the person it's placed on, and usually marks the heir of the family," I explain.

Pomfrey nods, "Alright, if you want to head up to your dorm Miss Grimwood, that would be recommended."

I bite my lip, "Can I stay down here? I promise not to make noise or disturb anyone. I just would feel better if I was here."

"He's probably not going to be awake for a while."

"I know. Please?"

Pomfrey pauses. And I think she sees something, or maybe she's just really tired, but she nods and locks the hospital wing doors and walks back to her quarters. I summon an unused blanket and settle down, knowing that I very nearly lost a friend tonight.

**Hey everyone, thanks to everyone who has reviewed/alerted/favorited/read/(is there anything I'm forgetting?). I'd like a few more reviews to find out if you like where the story is going or not. Anyway, those of you who read Crystalline Glass will recognize that I'm going back into the darker aspect of things. I'm going to try and balance it out a little more. Also to those of you who read The Eternal Livingroom, I have finally figured out where to go from there, so there should be an update soon.**


	9. Of Fireflies

I watch as the sun slowly beings to climb above the trees of the forest. Sirius is still sleeping, but he was sleeping better now than he was at around two, when he started to twitch and freak out in his sleep and had to be calmed down. I bite my lip and settle into the chair a little better. Pomfrey had transfigured it into an armchair for me. As I lean back, my mind races through my state of being to find that everything is fine, except I can tell my magic core is really worn out from repeatedly disconnecting Orion from Sirius throughout the night.

Some sounds of movement alert me of Pomfrey's being awake and mobile. When she nears, I can see the disapproval in her eyes.

I smile, "It was either I stay up and keep him comfortable or go to sleep and allow Orion to connect with him again. I don't think that any of us want that."

"True. We may not want that, but I also do not need to bring you into care because you are depriving yourself of sleep."

I shrug, "I'm used to it."

Pomfrey frowns before gathering the potions bottles that she needs and setting them next to Sirius's bed.

"Should he wake, he's to take those right away."

Nodding, I turn back to watch him and frown when I see tension in his neck. I reconnect with the mark and can feel Orion trying to tap in again.

'_Oh for fucking sake. Enough of this!'_ I think before grabbing onto Orion's signature and sending him my own personal message.

"Leave him alone you bloody bastard," I mutter, "Because if you don't. I will hurt you."

Slowly, Orion leaves. Checking again, I try to set up a simple ward, but cannot tell if it is going to take. I let go and sigh, wondering if Sirius will ever be free from his family. His cousin Andromeda had left the family and been disowned because she married Ted Tonks, a muggle born Hufflepuff she'd been dating on the sly for the past five years.

The door of the hospital wing opens, bringing me from my thoughts. Dumbledore comes walking in, his eyes worried and heads directly to Madam Pomfrey's office. I sit up and watch them exit the office and head in this direction.

"Has he woken up?" she asks.

I shake my head, "No. There was a close call, but it was stopped."

"Close call? Orion Black tried to attack again?"

I nod.

Dumbledore frowns and turns to face me, "Is there a way to prove that this was them?"

"Not that I know of. Granted, Orion was using the connection to hurt him, but it can't be proven in court, and Orion knows that," I sigh, "And add in that Sirius has quite the temper and has been quite vocal about hating his parents, it could be said that the other injuries caused by Orion were while defending against Sirius. It's crap, I know, but that's the way the wizarding world runs with old laws."

Dumbledore nods, a frown on his face and the usual twinkle severely dimmed. The headmaster nods to me and leaves. Pomfrey watches for a few minutes before going about her rounds.

~+~ Sirius's POV ~+~

It worries me at first, when all I see is black and I can't move my body. That's when I smell the indescribable, yet unmistakable smell of the Hospital wing. Going over events in my head, I can't figure out how I ended up here. Last I remember is collapsing on the tower with Ann worrying about something or another. She must have found someone to help. Deciding that I should alert the people who can't keep their voices down, I give a groan as I open my eyes, the light of the torches rather brighter than they normally are.

"Great! You're awake!" Remus says.

James smirks at him, "It's either that or he's sleep walking."

"Last I checked that was you. And only to try and get into the girls dorm."

"I do not!"

Remus grins and raises an eyebrow, "Feel like betting on that?"

"Guys…shut up." I groan, my throat sore. I feel around to the right, my hand coming into contact with various potions. By this time, I've learned to just take the potions given to me by Madam Pomfrey and not doubt her. So I grab each bottle and drink the potion before sitting up and looking at the guys. They look slightly worried as they watch me. "What? Have I sprouted antlers or something?"

James shakes his head, smirking slightly at the thought, "No, you've just been through hell, that's all."

Giving a slight chuckle, I shake my head, "Please, it wasn't that bad."

Remus frowns, "What happened? How did you end up so injured?"

"Mum and dad weren't so happy that I was trying to take their darling Regulus away from them," I shrug, "It's no big deal."

"If it's no big deal, then why did Ann stay here all night watching over you?"

"Ann was here?"

"Is here," James says, nodding to my right. I turn my head and find that Ann is curled up in a recliner with a blanket on top of her. There are shadows under her eyes, but she looks like she's completely out of it. It's odd that she would be so completely asleep because she's normally such a light sleeper that any noise around her will wake her up.

"Why-?"

Madam Pomfrey comes bustling in, "Good, you took your potions without complaint for once. Mister Lupin, Mister Potter, why didn't one of you alert me that Mister Black is awake?"

"I'm sorry Madam Pomfrey, we were excited that he was awake, but we were also alerting him about the potions that he had to take as well as information for what was going on," Remus says, "We were just about to alert you when you came walking out."

Pomfrey frowns, but gives a nod, "Mister Black, be honest, how are you feeling?"

"Overall? Like someone decided to allow a rogue hippogriff run me over. After a dragon used me as a chew toy that is," I say, "I can tell that nothing's broken, thank you for that by the way, but I also know that I'm pretty much magically exhausted right now."

"I expected as much. I should alert you that you have been through quite the ordeal. Other than the various injuries that you had last night, you were put under the Cruciartus curse multiple times last night," the Nurse says, "I want to ask if you know about something called the familiae mark?"

I nod.

"We, Miss Grimwood and myself, found this mark on your back last night. It is through this that Miss Grimwood believes that you were being attacked. I am not sure exactly what she did, but I know that she managed to keep you from being attacked once we found out what happened. Other than that, you have had bones broken, various cuts and burns, some internal injuries, along with various hex and curse damage," Pomfrey looks at me over her glasses, "You are quite lucky to be alive."

"Do you know how I got in here?" I ask.

Pomfrey glances at Ann, "I think that is something you need to ask her when she wakes. You should be getting some sleep yourself."

Grumbling, I take the sleeping potion that she thrusts at me and am asleep within moments.

_Regulus looks at me with a sneer similar to one that father wears after I've done something wrong. I try to call out to him, and ask what's wrong, but he ends up shaking his head at me. Walking toward me, I notice that he's wearing dress robes with the Black family crest on them. He is carrying himself like before he came to Hogwarts, the same way that I did before talking more with Andromeda and Uncle Alphard._

_ "You left me. See what you've done? Now that you're gone I have no choice but to follow the family. I didn't get a chance, because you didn't give me one. It's all your fault."_

Shooting up in bed, I glance around noticing that it's the middle of the night, and that light from the moon is shining through the windows. Calming my breathing down, I close my eyes and ignore the dread that Regulus really will turn into a mini copy of the family with me gone. It had been hard to get Regulus to see that even though we're in two different houses that I didn't care. It was harder for me to make myself not care. It doesn't help that I still think of him as my little brother that needs my protection. Now, I don't know if he'll end up crumbling to our parent's will.

"It's good to see you awake and not thrashing around on a bed."

I jump at the sound of Ann's voice, not thinking that anyone else was awake, "Merlin! Don't do that to me!"

She chuckles, "Terribly sorry."

"No you're not."

"Of course not. So, why did your father decide that it was a good idea to try and kill his heir?"

"I don't know, but I doubt that I'm the heir anymore."

"You have a familiae mark on your shoulder, I highly doubt that you are no longer the heir. After all, the Head only gives that mark once, and only to the heir of the family. This means that your mother could blast you off the family tree as much as she wants, but you'll still be in the family," Ann says.

"I keep forgetting that you know so much about the functions of pureblood society."

"It's a habit."

I give a short laugh, "So, are you going to tell me how I ended up here?"

"You flew to Hogwarts, remember?"

"I mean, how did I get to the Hospital wing?"

Ann sighs, "You were pretty much out of it. Kept saying that you left Regulus. I knew you were injured, but I didn't know how bad, and definitely didn't know how any magic would work with or against any of your injuries. I know that a lot of curses become more volatile when exposed to any spell that would help carry an injured person. So I carried you as best as I could."

I stare at her, my mouth hanging open, "You did what?"

"You heard me!" She snaps.

"Sorry! But it's hard to believe that you could carry me. I'm no feather you know."

"Yes, I'm well aware," she drawls, "However, you'd do the same thing if our roles were reversed."

I nod.

"You never did answer my question. Why was Orion so hell bent on completely destroying you?"

I shrug, and wince at the pain the movement causes, "I'd gotten tired of it. Dad hit me, which is the first time that either of them had ever laid a hand on us. I know it's probably irrational, but at that moment, I knew that no matter what I couldn't stay there. I tried to get Regulus to follow me, but by the time the two of us were about to get away, they had us. One of them charmed Reg's feet so that he couldn't move. Both of us tried to get it so that he could move, but nothing happened. Mum and Dad had decided that enough was enough and attacked. After a while, I had to leave. I knew that they weren't attacking Regulus, they were going after me. So I did the only thing I could think of and took off. Regulus was shouting for me not to leave him, and I did."

Ann sighs and places a hand on mine, "You did what you could. So long as you talk to Regulus the moment he steps foot in the castle, he'll understand. Just be sure to spend time where it's just the two of you, that way he doesn't get jealous of James."

"Why would he get jealous of James?"

"Well, you've never been, what's the word? Umm…subtle about how much you feel James is your brother. And as much as we all understand it, I think that Regulus gets confused and kind of envious once in a while. Unlike Regulus, James is in the same House as you, and you two spend so much time together. It makes sense," Ann says, "Just don't forget that your little brother wants some of your attention too."

I nod, and she squeezes my hand before letting go and snuggling back into the blanket.

"Go back to sleep, I can tell you're still tired," Ann says, "I'll keep watch Pads."

~*~ Ann's POV ~*~

Walking into the Great Hall I sigh. Ever since he came back from Grimmauld Place, Sirius hasn't been himself. It's understandable, after all he went through, for him to change. But I'd never thought that I would have to see his eyes dim in guilt and pain like they do so often now. I don't know what to do for him, nor do James or Remus.

I glance at the sky, frowning at the clouds. I was hoping to watch the stars without worrying about getting cold, but apparently Mother Nature has other ideas. Frowning, I glance around the room. I definitely don't want to go back to the common room. I close the door of the Great Hall so it's open just a crack before pulling out my wand.

I use a spell on the windows of the hall, causing the room to darken even more before putting my wand away. I've been practicing casting my wolves without a wand along with a couple of other spells, nothing that would be useful really, just some really flashy magic that looks cool.

Casting the charm for my wolves, they appear one by one, running through the hall and playing. I smile before concentrating. Holding out my hand, I conjure some multi-colored balls of light. After juggling them for a while, I throw them at the wall where they burst, decorating the wall in color and allowing me to control some of the colors, turning them into streams that fly through the air, twisting together and apart.

Throwing that spell off so it runs on its own, I then use a spell similar to the one I use for my wolves and conjure several birds. Birds of blue, red, yellow, green, orange and purple fly through the air, sparkly spell debris falling from their wings. I then start to create orbs of small colored lights, allowing them to float and fly around like lightning bugs.

At first, I giggle, and then it turns into full laughter. This is the kind of magic that I love to do. It may not actually do much, but it is fun and it's colorful. Smiling, I run with the wolves, jumping up and over the tables, or even along them, all the while creating more things to brighten the room. When I get tired of running, I sit on one of the tables and watch it all.

"You know, when I heard that you were going to find Sirius, I expected you to be coming into the Commons with him."

I smile, "Hey Remus."

"I thought Madam Pomfrey said not to use too much magic before school started again?"

"Yeah, but it's getting easier!" I say, excited, "Watch!"

Remus sits on the table next to me and watches as I create a dark purple shining box. When he looks like he's going to interrupt, I shake my head and nod for him to keep watching. Slowly, I open the box. Inside lie a whole bunch of small white lights. I pick up a few before giving them a gentle push to the ceiling. As they rise, they intertwine with the little fireflies floating around. Upon reaching the ceiling though, the lights take positions as the constellations before swirling around in different arrays of patterns and images. Yet, they always return to the positions of the stars before going to the next. I then break apart the box and it transforms into more beams of lights, and roams the room.

"You have gotten good at this," Remus smiles, "Hard to believe that you've been practicing this since your third year."

I shrug, "I knew all the other spells already. It was managing to get them wandless, and then to get them wandless and wordless that was the bugger."

Sighing with a smile, I feel the effects of using so much energy and rest my head on Remus's shoulder. He gives a light chuckle and places his arm around me. We watch as the spells keep working and intertwining as they slowly start to die. When the last star falls from the sky, we stand and slowly head toward the tower, me leaning on him rather heavily.

"So," Remus says as we hit the fifth floor, "Did you learn your lesson?"

"What lesson?"

"The lesson from what you pulled in the Great Hall just now."

I smile, "Yeah, practice wandless magic closer to the tower."

He sighs, shaking his head, "We'll never make it to the tower with you like this."

"So go on ahead. I'll get there in my own time."

"Don't think so Grimwood."

I puzzle over this statement for a moment before I feel my feet rushing away from the floor and my body turning so I'm horizontal rather than vertical. I look at Remus with wide eyes and he chuckles.

"You're bloody lucky I'm so tired," I mutter, placing my head against his shoulder and relaxing. "I hate being picked up and carried."

"I know, but this is easier than trying to convince you. After all, you have quite the thick head," Remus says.

"You know you love it," I murmur, my eyes slowly closing and a smile on my lips. Remus gives a chuckle and starts humming, lulling me into sleep.


	10. Of Being in the Blood

I give a yawn as the four of us enter the Great Hall. Peter should be coming back sometime today, he didn't feel like going with his father to visit his aunt on the continent, and the other three had decided to wake me up in the loudest fashion they could. I kept sending them glares as we sit down at the breakfast table, there aren't enough of us for house tables, and pull the toast to me, taking a few pieces and beginning to munch on them.

About five minutes later, Rowan comes bursting into the Hall, walks right up to Sirius and punches him in the shoulder. Sirius hisses in pain, grabbing his left shoulder where Rowan had hit.

"Rowan!" I shout as I jump between them, "What the hell was that for?"

"He left! After saying he wouldn't, he left! And now he's terrified!" Rowan shouts, glaring at Sirius, before trying to dodge around me.

I'm suddenly grateful that I'm taller than he is by a good foot, and intercept him, catching his stomach on his shoulder and walking toward the doors, "Sorry about this, I'll take care of this twerp and the day will continue as normal."

Once out of the Hall, I walk to one of the classrooms, Rowan struggling the entire way, bruising my back. Once inside, I close the door and lock it before setting him down. I then grab a chair and sit in front of the door, propping my booted feet on the desk.

"Alright, explain yourself, and do so thoroughly," I say, keeping my voice even as possible.

Rowan glares at me, before snapping, "Why the fuck would you care? Let me go so I can beat that bastard's arse."

My eyes narrow and I frown, "One, watch who you threaten. You can't back it up yet. Two, explain why you're so pissed off and I may let you go."

"I received a letter from Regulus last night. He had been shaking so badly when he wrote it, I could hardly read it. He said things about how Sirius had abandoned him and how he didn't know what to do. He said that their mother had shoved his things in a closet and was watching him to see if he put a toe out of line," Rowan is shouting again at this point, "He's terrified of doing the wrong thing and upsetting her, but he is also trying to be a good son. Mrs. Black is now apparently talking to him about having him spend some time with Bellatrix over the summer, and try to get him to become more like his cousin. Which is the last thing he wants. Mr. Black has buried himself in his books and study and is not helping any. And then _he_ has the nerve to sit at that table like everything is _fine_? Sirius should be trying to figure out a way to help Regulus, not be sitting there chatting with his mates!"

"Rowan, there are factors that you don't understand," I mutter, "Sirius hasn't been taking this alright, in fact the whole part of him acting like everything is fine is just that. It's an act." I rub the bridge of my nose before looking up at my brother, "You have no idea how much this is killing Sirius, but he _cannot_ go back there."

"Why not?"

"Because, if he did, they would kill him. Without pause. That's why I'm hoping to god that Regulus or Alphard or Arcturus can calm them down enough so that they won't kill Sirius when he goes back this summer," I say.

Rowan glares at me again, "Yes, but how is that going to help Regulus now?"

"I don't know. I don't have all the answers. I don't know what to do," I growl.

"I knew you would take his side. You always do."

"It's not about taking a side!"

"Then what is it about?"

"It's about knowing what can and cannot reasonably be done!"

"And when have you been reasonable!"

"Since I started noticing the world outside is changing!"

"Yeah, well I didn't think that meant you'd change with it."

"Of course I would. It's called adaption."

"The Ann I know would never let someone else get hurt."

"I don't have a choice!"

"Never stopped you before."

"Damn it Rowan! This is out of my league! I can't kidnap a member of the House of Black!"

"Well then convince father to help."

"He won't help me. He doesn't think I deserve it."

"Maybe if you'd stop being so stubborn about the mudbloods."

"Rowan!"

"What? That's the problem."

"No, the problem is that mother and father have their heads up their robes. And don't use that word!"

"Why not? Snape does. Mother and Father do."

I frown at him, "What's gotten into you? Since when do you listen to Snape? You haven't called muggle-borns mudbloods in years."

"Maybe I'm seeing a new way of thinking," Rowan says, shrugging, "Plus, Snape is actually teaching me things that you won't."

I pale, knowing that there's only one thing that Snape could teach Rowan that I refuse to. I would rather die than teach Rowan Dark Magic, but Snape is one of two people in this school who I would say has as much knowledge in the Dark Arts as I have.

"Can I leave now?"

"Yeah, just leave Sirius alone or you'll find yourself on the ceiling of the Entrance Hall in a bunny suit." I unlock the room and sit there, even after Rowan had slammed the door shut. I can't help but to wonder what happened to my little brother. It was only a couple of nights ago that we were standing on the tower drinking hot chocolate and talking about this and that and whatever. As I shake my head, I stand and walk to the other side of the room and open a window. Conjuring a pack of cigarettes, I pull one out and light it with my wand. Taking a drag, I look out over the lawn and sigh. Why does the world have to turn to hell?

~*~AG~*~

Rubbing a hand over my face, I look down at the parchment in front of me. As much as I would rather deny it, there is less than a year until I reach my majority. At which point, my being the head of the family once father dies becomes official.

"You look like you could use some sleep Grimwood," Evans says from across the room.

I give a tight smile, "There's no rest for the wicked."

Evans looks slightly surprised that I would know that saying, but she also seems to forget that I've been observing her since we became dorm mates and that Sirius is quite talkative when he finds something interesting in Muggle Studies, like motorcycles.

"What are you reading anyway? It looks older than a lot of books in the Library."

"The Grimwood Grimorie. Basically the official book of the family listing all of the accomplishments that they have as well as other important pieces of information pertaining to the family," I pause, "I believe it would be a bit like a family bible."

Evans nods, and opens her mouth to say something else before turning pale and running to the bathroom. I hear her start throwing up and follow her. As much as we don't get along, it seems to be an unspoken girl code not to let puke get into another girl's hair. I pull her hair from her face and wait for her to finish emptying her stomach. When she's done she flushes the toilet and rests her forehead on the porcelain. I feel her cheek with the back of my hand and frown at how warm she is.

"Come on, Evans," I mutter, grabbing under her arm and pulling her up. The girl who had looked so chipper this morning now looks like she's about the fall over. Pulling her into the dorm room, I set her in her bed and get her arranged before walking to the small fireplace. I grab some floo powder and throw it in, calling for the hospital wing and sticking my head in.

"Madam Pomfrey?" I call.

The matron walks over, "Miss Grimwood, what's the matter?"

"Evans is feeling ill. Fever, throwing up, and exhaustion are what I know for now. Should I give her anything?"

"Just water and crackers for the stomach, everything else has to be left alone until we know what's wrong for sure," Pomfrey says, "Keep an eye on her while you can and have the other girls help."

I nod, "Good thing I have today off then. I'll alert you if another symptom shows up."

Pomfrey gives an affirmative before I pull out of the fireplace. Grabbing the pitcher of water, cup, and a waste basket, I place them over by Evans.

"Why are you helping me? You hate me," Evans mutters.

"Please, don't think so highly of yourself," I scoff, "I don't hate you. Not get along with and disagree with you? Yes. Hate you? No."

Evans nods and closes her eyes. A few moments later and she's sleeping. I frown again, wondering what could be the problem. Evans has always been in really good health. It's unusual for her to get sick. I pull up a chair and summon the Grimorie, picking up at the page I left off at.

~*~AG~*~

It's just after ten at night when Evans starts moving again. I glance up at her before placing a mark in my book and banishing it to my bed. I help the girl up out of bed and toward the bathroom, letting her go once I know that she's stable and use a spell on her bed to place fresh linen on it. It's never a good idea to sleep on a bed where one has been ill.

"I'm starving," Evans says as she exits the bathroom.

"Well, we can go down to the kitchens and get some food."

"But that's out of bounds."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is."

"Show me where in the rules it says you cannot go into the kitchens?"

Evans opens her mouth then closes it. She furrows her eyebrows in thought before shrugging, "It's still past curfew."

"And? Since when has that stopped anyone? Besides, it's better for you to get food than not to."

Before the girl can protest too much more, I grab her arm and pull her along. After a few minutes, we reach the painting to the kitchens, and I tickle the pear before pulling her into the kitchens. Evans blinks, looking around at everything in awe as I ask one of the house elves for food for both of us. Keeping the food from being too rich, I smile as I realise that this is probably her first time seeing house elves and a magical kitchen.

"What-what are these creatures?" Evans whispers, being careful that none of the elves can hear her and become offended.

I smile, "House elves. Lovely little fellows aren't they?"

"Are they employed by Hogwarts?"

"They don't receive payment if that's what you mean."

"Why not?" Evans's eyebrows knit together, "That's slavery if they aren't compensated."

"Actually," I motion for her to join me at a table where our food is waiting, "it is in a house elf's nature to work without pay. Generally, if an elf has a kind master who tries to further the elf's happiness, then it is a brilliant relationship."

Evans gives a motion for me to continue as she slowly eats her soup.

"House elves are remarkably loyal. If a family has earned that loyalty, then the bond between elf and master is strengthened. In most cases, an elf needs to be bonded to someone for their magic to stay with them. If the typical elf does not bond with a person, they lose their magic and will to live."

"What about a non-typical elf?" Evans asks.

"I am not entirely sure. You would have to ask an elf that question," I say before picking up my sandwich.

"How come no one knows about them though?" Evans asks, right as I'm about to take a bite.

I raise an eyebrow, "Because it is the mark of a good elf, of a happy elf, to not be seen while he or she works. House elves take pride in their work, regardless if their master, or mistress, recognises it."

Evans starts again, "But then how would the master or mistress know that they're truly happy?"

"Because they know where the elves quarters are."

"Elves have quarters?"

"Yes, where did you expect them to sleep? On a kitchen counter?" I snap, "Please, I don't mind answering your questions, but let me get a bite to eat!"

Evans blushes and lets me eat for a bit while she eats her soup. After I've had enough with the silence, I clear my throat and ask if she has me any other questions.

"Does anyone in the magical world know how to cook, or do they all use elves and spells to do such?"

The corner of my mouth twitches and before she can blink, I'm laughing. After a while, I gain control of my laugher, "Of course we cook. We're human aren't we? Granted, not many of the old families cook themselves, hence why they own elves, but there are a lot of people who cook and bake as a hobby."

Evans nods which is something that she does if she understands something. After fiddling with her soup and asking a few more questions we stand to leave right as the door to the kitchens opens. Rowan walks in with Snape, both of them discussing something. Our two groups pause at the sight of each other and I turn to Evans and Snape.

"I ask that you leave my brother and I. There are things that I would like to discuss with him."

Both of them nod and walk out the door. I sit back down in my chair and point to one that is next to me. Rowan huffs before sitting down. I frown and intertwine my fingers, resting my chin on them and watch as Rowan glares at the table.

"Is Miss and Sir wanting anything?" a house elf asks.

"Tea, please," I say, turning from my brother to give the elf a tight smile and thank it when the tea appears.

"So are you going to stare at me all night, or are you actually going to do something?" Rowan sneers.

I raise an eyebrow at him, "Watch the tone, I've done nothing to you to warrant it."

"I don't understand why you won't just leave me be."

"Because I'm worried for you. You're changing, and not into a person whom I expected. Nor am I very much interested in knowing Rowan Grimwood, pureblood supremacist," I say, keeping my voice low. "What's changing, why are you taking up these ideas again? And don't give me that rubbish about Snape and our parents."

"Because…because if I don't do something…if I can't do something…anything…then what use am I? I read the same paper you do, but when you're older you can help those people. I can't. And to find out that Regulus is trapped at his house with no way back until break is done…. It just made me realise how completely useless I am," Rowan says, his voice normal and lacking the sneer or aristocratic tilt it had gained in the last few days, "I keep thinking that maybe if I knew some Dark Magic that I would be able to help."

"Rowan, Dark Magic shouldn't be played around with. You know that."

"I want to learn how to use it though. If I can use it I can help!"

I frown, "It doesn't matter if you're able to use Dark Magic or not, you're helpful in your own way."

"I can't fight! I can barely defend myself," Rowan snaps, "And I don't see why you keep telling me that I shouldn't learn."

My eyes narrow and I frown. Setting down my cup, I motion for Rowan to follow me, heading toward the Room of Requirement. Almost automatically, I ghost through the halls, keeping to the shadows as much as possible and making extremely little noise. Passing by a window, my eyes dart toward the sky, noting the position and phase of the moon before I pass it. I can hear Rowan behind me and give another frown. Once we arrive at the entrance, I pass in front of it three times, and then open the door that appears. Rowan walks in, caution etched in his eyes.

I follow him and light the torches in the room, "I'm not going to let you perform any of these spells, unless you're too thick to realise the effect of them on a person."

"What?"

Flicking my wand from its holster, I think about some dummies that I need. Five of them pop into existence and I frown at them.

"_Decollatiomortem_." I cast the first spell at one of the mannequins, watching with a sadistic satisfaction as the head is taken off. I frown at how clinical it looks and mutter, "Well that's not right."

"Is that spell not supposed to do that?" Rowan asks.

"No, the curse worked perfectly. Ah, yes…that would be the problem." I then wish for five realistic dummies and they appear, "_Decollatiomortem."_

When the head comes off this time, blood starts to pour out of the wound and the body falls to the ground, twitching slightly in the fingers. I nod, satisfied that the problem was taken care of. I turn to the next mannequin, I cast an animation spell on it so that it acts and sounds human.

"_P__rohibere motuspede__s._" A pause to decide what spell to use next. "_Rompreos_." The dummy screams in pain when the spell hits their shoulder. "_Impedespiritus._" This time it is breathing in gasps that are mixed with whimpers. "_Ossavitro_." The dummy gives another scream, but this one is far more animalistic. "_Expelliarmus_." The dummy doesn't have a chance to scream as all the bones, which had been turned to glass, break. I turn to the next dummy, feeling the Dark Magic in my veins singing.

"Ann?" Rowan asks, his voice odd.

"Hmmm?"

"H-H-How…."

"Come on Rowan, speak up and finish your thought."

Silence.

"Well?"

"Never mind."

I grin, "Excellent! You don't mind if I continue, do you?"

Rowan shakes his head.

Turning back to the next mannequin I tilt my head, trying to figure out what to do to this one. "_Marionetta."_ The mannequin, which has also been animated, starts to turn green from dizziness, but other than that, nothing happens. "_Ignis_." The thing begins to scream. I smile. "_Profundus incidere_." Blood splatters around the room. "_Mens irretitus_." The person stops screaming. Cancelling the _marionette_ spell, I walk up to the mannequin and smirk when I see the lost hollow appearance to their eyes. I shrug and move onto the next dummy, leaving the other one to sit there, trapped in its "mind". Turning to the next one, which has been previously animated and is now cowering in fear, I smirk.

"_Suscitatio umbra__**," **_I cast. The shadows around the dummy animate and look at me. I raise an eyebrow, "Attack." The shadows do my bidding and begin to attack the animated being.

"Ann! Stop! That's enough, I understand! I'm sorry!" Rowan shouts.

I turn around, surprised that he's said something, and kind of annoyed that he interrupted me, "Do you really? Do you really understand?"

Rowan nods, his eyes glassy as he looks over the animated beings on the floor and the last one, cowering in a corner and crying. I walk toward him slowly. When I reach him, I tilt Rowan's chin up so he's looking at me and I give a grin. He flinches and I shake my head.

"Cause you see, I don't think you get it yet." I slowly start to bring up my wand, "I think one more demonstration is needed."

Rowan flinches again, obviously trying to get out of my way, but I spin around and aim at the last mannequin, "_Bombarda_!" The head is bludgeoned in and the animated being dies instantly. By now, the tears are flowing from his eyes and he's sunk to the bottom of the wall of the room.

I close my eyes and ask for the room to remove the mannequins and the evidence of what they had been through. I then dispel the shadows, allowing them to turn back to normal and sink down opposite of Rowan. Swallowing, I force down the desire to use more Dark Magic. When I open my eyes, Rowan is watching me with more than a little fear.

"Now do you see why I don't want you to use Dark Magic?" I ask, my voice still oddly void. "And you only see and hear the physical effects of the victim. The effects of Dark Magic on the caster can be just as bad. After a while, especially for people who have been raised learning this magic, it gets in your blood. I'm sure you feel the same thing, though not to the same extent. It's a pull, a desire to use it, and after a while it can become really bad. If a person follows that desire and does not watch what they use and how much, that desire and that tint to their person can drive them mad."

Rowan nods slowly, wiping his eyes of his tears, "But…that last spell was just _bombarda_."

"Yes. That was to prove my point. No matter what there are ways to kill a person. To harm them. Use _wingardium leviosa_ on a person and drop them from a cliff it is the same thing as _avada kedavra_. The only difference is one is an automatic ticket to Azkaban. The other is not," I explain.

"Is…is there anyone else in the school who can do what you can?"

Blinking at the question, I frown, "Yes."

"Do you mind if I ask who?"

"I do actually, as it is not my place to divulge that information."

"Oh, right."

I sigh, knowing that Rowan will be uncomfortable in my presence for a while, "Come on, let's get you back to Slytherin dorms."

Rowan nods and leaves the room. I follow him out and then walk alongside him through the halls, being careful so as not to brush against him. After a long uncomfortable walk, we reach the entrance to the Slytherin dorms. Rowan looks at me, wary. I feel my heart clench, but push it away. Nodding, I give a small smile to him.

"I wish I didn't have to show you that, but I'm not sorry. I don't want you turning out the same way that I am," I murmur, "Try not to dwell on the images, but remember the overall lesson."

Rowan nods, the movement jerky, before entering his dorm. Turning on my heel, I head back to Gryffindor tower, my thoughts racing and my emotions barely being kept in check. I arrive in my bed somehow, and as I bury myself in the covers, I know that I am going to have nightmares to last me for quite a while now.

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

I shoot out of bed, the nightmare bringing me from what should have been a good night's rest. I cast a tempus charm and groan at the time. Slipping from bed, I forgo the dressing gown, knowing that there won't be any Gryffindors in the common room at three in the morning. As I near the common room, I smell something odd, like some kind of perfume and I am surprised to see Ann sitting in front of the fire, her eyes oddly blank as she watches the flames.

"Ann?" I call, keeping my voice low enough so as not to startle anyone who is still sleeping in the first dorms.

She turns to me and gives a small smile, "Couldn't sleep?"

"No, and I imagine you couldn't either."

Ann shrugs and turns back to the fire. I sit next to her and the perfume smell becomes stronger. I raise an eyebrow at her, which she catches from the corner of her eye and she sighs. Before she can answer though, Remus also stumbles down the stairs. Ann gives him a small smile as well.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you Remmy," she says, her voice too even and eyes too dull.

Remus shrugs and sits on the floor in front of the couch we're sitting on, "I couldn't sleep. I heard Sirius come downstairs and decided to follow."

I watch the two talk for a while and Ann soon starts to become sleepy. She curls up on the couch and after murmuring a few things starts to sleep. Remus joins her in the land of oblivion not long after and before I can protest, my eye lids drag themselves down, and I drift into sleep.

-^- McGonagall's POV-^-

Walking into the Gryffindor common rooms, I frown and look around for my three missing lions. I hear a light whimper which is quickly silenced and turn to face the fireplace. Giving a slight smile at the sight, I walk toward the three to check that they were well before turning around to leave. I know that Lupin, Grimwood, and Black often have nightmares, so if they can gain some rest, then I would rather them miss a class that is a review session than lose their health.

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

I slowly start to wake, light dancing on my eyelids. Giving a yawn, I snuggle further into my pillow and grasp the sheets in my hand a little tighter, hoping I can go back to sleep. That's when I realise that my pillow isn't as soft as it usually is, and that I'm not holding onto bed sheets. I blink and glance around. My head had been resting on Sirius's leg and my hand is still holding onto Remus's shirt. Sirius has his legs stretched out in front of him while his head rests on the back of the couch. Remus is on the floor, leaning against Sirius's legs, his head resting on the bit of cushion in front of where my head had been. Still tired, I cast a spell to dampen the light being cast into the room and go back to sleep.

**AN/ I just realized that my page breaks, when it looks like '~*~' for example, aren't showing up. My change in POV breaks are, so I think that I have to have some lettering in there. If someone could send a review letting me know if the new page breaks, which will look like ~*~AG~*~, show up, that would be great. It would also be great just to get a review letting me know how the story is *nudge nudge*.**


	11. Of Relocating the Lake

)o( Remus's POV)o(

I glance at Sirius over the top of my book, my eyes wide and the wheels in my mind whirling. I place a bookmark and get up, walking over to a bookshelf that I tend to keep some of the more…prank oriented…tomes on.

"You do realise that if this works not only will we be in trouble from McGonagall, but also every Quidditch fan in the school _and_ James?" I remind him.

"It would be well worth it! I mean come on, imagine the looks on their faces!" Sirius says, "And besides, Minnie will be thrilled."

I blink, "Ok, now I know that you're suicidal. McWhiskers is one of the biggest Quidditch fans in the school, she was chaser for Gryffindor when she was a student, and she was also the captain of her team for four years!"

"Exactly, and yet I somehow think that she will laugh her head off at this one. Come on Moony! We can finally do some of the bigger pranks, so why not? Besides if I can get Ann in on it then the three of us can work at it," Sirius explains.

"You do realise that this is not going to happen overnight, right?" I ask.

Sirius nods, "Yeah, but I've been talking with the squid and he said that he wouldn't mind."

"Fine, get Ann to agree and we'll work on it and get it done."

~*~ Ann's POV ~*~

I levitate the last domino into place and then place a spell on them so that no one can knock them down and ruin about five hours of work, and so that no one will see them until I'm ready. This is more for a little fun, especially seeing as that Sirius had been consistently chattering about this game that they learned in Muggle Studies and the different aspects of it.

"Hey Ann!"

I turn to see Sirius jogging up to me, "What did you do now?"

Sirius frowns at me, "I haven't done anything yet."

"Yet being the key word."

"Anyway, I was wondering if you would be willing to help me and Remus with a prank."

"But of course! What's the plan? And what are my experiences needed for?" I ask.

"You're charm work, and ability to master difficult spells rather quickly," Sirius says.

I nod, "Lead the way, and explain as you do."

~*~AG~*~

I stand in the empty class room and transfigure a desk into a large Plexiglas tank. The thing is twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide and eight feet tall. It's too bad that this prank is being kept secret from James, he is the best with transfiguration.

"Why couldn't you transfigure the desk?" I ask Sirius out of curiosity.

"Because I was not sure what Plexiglas is and seeing as that was what Remus said to make the tank out of I figured that you would know what it is and would be better for the job," Sirius explains, "Now we have to add the strengthening spells. Hopefully they'll work and we'll end up with a nice sturdy tank, or else we'll be cleaning water from this room and the hall frantically before a teacher shows up."

I shrug and start adding the spells. Three weeks of research has brought us to this point. The funny thing is that the professors haven't noticed that we're behaving more. Usually they do and start to freak out, knowing that a prank is afoot.

Remus enters the room right as we finish strengthening the tank, "Hey, that looks really good. There aren't any seams to it either, so that makes it a little studier. Want to start filling it?"

Sirius nods, "Might as well."

"Alright, let's hope that this works. _Aguamenti_!" I watch as the three of us start to slowly fill the tank and time it. The process is extremely tiring and I call for us to stop when the tank is a quarter of the way full, "We have to find a better spell to use. This is going to take too long. That tank is only two feet full and it took us thirty minutes."

Sirius nods, "Definitely have to find a different spell. Do either of you know what we can do to make the bottom look like the bottom of the lake?"

Remus's eyebrows raise and his mouth turns to a slight frown, "Do we even know what the bottom of the lake looks like?"

"Oh, yes I have a photo up in my dorm," I drawl, "We can work on that later, I want to see if the invisibility charm will work on the tank, or if there will be any adverse effects." Flicking my wand at the Plexiglas I start the spell and when I'm done give it the little stab. In a few moments it looks like there's two feet of water hovering about an inch off of the classroom floor.

"That's bloody brilliant," Sirius grins.

I give a mock bow, "Thank you, but you two are going to need to have the spell memorized too, because doing this on the actual one would be too much trouble."

Remus shrugs, "The invisibility spell will be the easiest to work on. After all, if you use a _sicutme_ charm on the tank first then the whole thing should follow the one spell."

"I forgot about that spell," Sirius quips, "Wonder if _aguamenti maxima_ would work at filling the tank any faster?"

"Probably, but it still wouldn't be fast enough for us to fill it in time," Remus points out, "_aguamenti_ usually puts out about fifty gallons a minute, while _aguamenti maxima_ puts out 150. We need something that's more around…500 or 1000. Maybe something even higher."

I bite my lower lip, thinking about a spell that would work for our purpose and coming up blank. I shake my head, "I don't know. Maybe I can find something in one of my books. I think that at worst we can use some sort of transport spell. I would rather not. After all we don't know what would happen to the lake if we take that much water out of it, but who knows?"

"Ah, but Ann! You can't spend forever buried in your books!" Sirius groans.

"Of course I can't. Did you forget that I'm giving you a sword fighting lesson tonight?" I ask.

"Umm…no…" Sirius tries to lie before sighing, "Yes. But in my defense, I was too excited about this."

I laugh, "Don't worry about it! Just be at the room by nine."

Sirius nods like an over energetic puppy before bounding away. I chuckle before placing my books in my bag. Remus sighs and walks out of the room, following Sirius and muttering about making sure destructive individuals don't annoy professors. Smiling at the thought my mind drifts to the way life has turned this year. Other than working on pranks and what happened at Christmas it's been a mostly uneventful year. Unfortunately, I feel as though I'm growing more distant from Rowan. He is with Regulus the most out of everyone, something that I'm both grateful and worried about. Grateful because I know that there are a lot of mini-Death Eaters around this school. And they aren't just in Slytherin either, though that house has the largest group. There are a couple of Ravenclaws and even some Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. The main reason that I know is because Tessa brings them over during breaks and I can hear them talking about raids. This whole Voldemort thing is starting to really bother me.

"Watch where you're walking Grimwood!" Snape snaps at me, breaking me from my thoughts.

I look up in surprise, "Huh? Oh, sorry Sevvie."

"That's it? No curses to send my way? You aren't going to try and send me to St. Mungos?" Snape says scathingly.

"No, but if you keep comments like that up I might."

"Well where is your gang? I thought that you didn't go anywhere without Black, Lupin and Potter as your guard dogs!" Snape says with a smirk.

"Actually, if you think back, whenever you and I have fought it's usually one on one. If you have a problem with me then I suggest that you just say it outright right now, or else leave me be. I have better things to do than be annoyed by the likes of you," I sneer, dripping as much venom into my voice as possible.

Snape's eyes narrow and he walks away, muttering under his breath. I take a breath to calm my temper before continuing to the library. I instantly head to the charms section to look up something to help us with the prank and don't find anything in the section. I know that there has to be something on the subject in the library and move to one of the more abandoned areas of the library. Turning a corner, my eyes widen in shock at the sight in front of me. I can't even make a noise or move. Finally I manage a small 'eep!', before turning around and walking quickly the other way.

The sight of my brother pushed against the wall kissing one of the older Slytherin boys seems ingrained in my mind and I shake the thought away. They seemed so…attached. I really can't think of any other word to describe it. This isn't some light peck on the cheek or lips, but full out snogging. I knew that my brother was dating, though I think he's entirely too young, he'd gone with Deanna Vaintro to the last couple of Hogsmead trips before dumping her because she was turning clingy. Turning the corner I run into someone and fall to the ground. The person laughs as I grumble before looking up to apologize.

Sirius smirks at me, "Glad to see that I can make any girl fall at my feet."

"Ah, there's that lovely humble boy I was looking for," I say sarcastically.

"You know you love me," Sirius grins, "Now what's wrong? You normally pay attention to your surroundings unless you've been bothered by something, and then it has to be something really big."

I shake my head, "I just saw my brother snogging in the library."

"So?"

I grab him by the robes and pull him into a classroom before locking it and placing a couple of privacy charms up.

"You don't get it. He was snogging a Slytherin boy in the library."

Realization dawns on Sirius's face before he frowns, "So are you bothered by that he's kissing a Slytherin, or that he's kissing a male?"

"Neither, I'm just coming to the conclusion that I really don't know as much about my brother as I used to. From the events during Christmas, and now this, and everything else…I feel like I'm losing him, and I never even realised it. Never even thought about it. It seems like we're still close, but…There's something missing that used to be there," I mutter before shaking my head, "Sorry, I shouldn't be babbling to you."

"No problem, if you can't babble to me, who else can you babble to? What were you doing in the library anyway? I thought that I told you to leave that place alone for twenty four hours," Sirius chides.

"I was looking for a charm to help us in our prank."

"Ah," he sighs, "That explains it."

I nod and think about Rowan. It really has been too long since I've actually spent any time with him. The last time we spent time together one on one was before the Christmas holiday ended. And that had been a disaster. I thank Sirius and take down my spells before rushing down to lunch, trusting my brother's tendencies to act like a normal teen boy when it comes to appetite. Sure enough he's sitting at the Slytherin table with a full plate, and he's talking to the guy I saw him with in the library. They seem to be in an intense conversation, but I ignore that and just sit down across from Rowan, clearing my throat slightly. Him and about twenty other Slytherins in the area jump in surprise, looking at me like I'm psychotic.

"Hey Ann, what're you doing over here?" Rowan asks after swallowing his food.

I shrug, "I haven't seen my brother in ages. Are you busy at all later tonight?"

Rowan tilts his head back, looking up at the ceiling as though looking at his personal calendar before shaking his head, "Nope."

"Want to get together? Maybe play some chess or something?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Oh! Ann, I'd like you to meet Kevin. Kevin, this is my sister Ann."

I look at the boy Rowan introduces. Smiling at him I offer a handshake, which he takes, wincing slightly at the strength in it.

"Nice to meet you. I'll assume you're a friend of Rowan's?" I ask, feigning innocence in the nature of their relationship.

The boy turns slightly pale, "Yeah, we're good friends."

I smile, "Excellent. I like knowing who my brother's friends are." I ignore his slight shudder and turn back to Rowan, "See you tonight at seven in the old classroom by Wendlyn the Weird, good?"

"That's fine, see you tonight!"

Standing from the Slytherin table I grab a sandwich and walk back toward the library. I still had a spell to find after all.

~*~AG~*~

I'm setting up the chessboard in the classroom as Rowan walks in. He takes off his tie and robes, throwing them to the floor and placing his bag on top and helps me to finish setting up. I smile and nod for him to take the opposite chair while I summon the butter beer I'd bought from Rosemerta earlier in the day.

"Ann…I'm sorry I've kind of been avoiding you for a while."

I nod, "Don't worry about it. I understand. So, anything happening in the life of Rowan Grimwood that I would find interesting?"

"Not really…"

"Oh really?" I smirk, "No one who's caught your eye?"

Rowan looks at me and blushes, "You know."

I nod.

"When did you find out?"

"This afternoon in the library."

"In…the…library?"

I glance up from planning my next move to see Rowan staring at me, his face pale and eyes wide. I nod again, and he seems to grow paler.

"I…uh…and…um…er…"

I chuckle, "Relax. I don't care. So long as you're happy. And so long as that boy knows that if he hurts you he's dead."

Rowan gives a smile. He's still somewhat nervous around me, then again, seeing your sister turn into a sadistic monster who enjoys using Dark Magic would do that to most people. And yet, he's starting to become as comfortable with me as he used to be. We talk for a while longer before I walk him to the Slytherin dorms and run back up to the seventh floor to give Sirius his sword lesson.

~+~ Sirius's POV~+~

I carefully walk through the halls, keeping as quiet as possible and keeping to the shadows as much as possible. I bend my magic around me to keep in a state similar to being invisible. I can hear Remus running a couple of halls down, he's using his senses to keep alert to where the teachers, ghosts, prefects, and poltergeist are. I don't know where Ann is, I can't track her, but I know that she's somewhere ahead of me and is keeping to the shadows far more easily than me.

The three of us exit the castle and make our way to the Quidditch pitch. After months of work, we're finally able to do our prank. Though, we can only hope that it will work. After all, this is not going to be a simple walk in the park, this prank involves plenty of really advanced magic, and I can only hope that we know enough and are strong enough to get it all done.

The gate of the pitch opens in front of me, seemingly of its own accord, and I walk in, with Remus following me, and Ann closing the gate. The three of us move to the center of the pitch and Ann and I unbend our magic and become visible again.

"Ok, so do we all remember the plan?" Remus asks.

I nod, "I'm going to work at transforming all these lovely pebbles into pieces of Plexiglas that will then be charmed to stick together along with the floor. I'm then adding the bottom layer to make it look like the bottom of the lake."

Remus nods and turns to Ann.

"I'm placing some wards and charms around the pitch to make it look like normal until right after the teams fly onto the field. Luckily they both like to fly around the outside of the pitch first, or else we'd have a bunch of players going splat," Ann says with a grin.

Remus nods again, "And I'm going to lay down the _sicutme_ charm along with that water spell multiplication charm that I'd found."

"I still want to know where you found that. I'd looked everywhere in that bloody library," Ann grumbles.

"I didn't find it in the library," Remus smirks, "I found it in one of my personal history books."

"A history book? Really?"

"Yeah-"

"Ok you book worms, let's get to work, then you can go to reading heaven," I cut them off. They both give me mock glares before getting to work. I roll my eyes, wondering how in hell I ended up with two bookworms as friends. _As if you don't read plenty of books yourself._ Shaking my head, I give a slight grin as we all lay down the charm and spells needed for this to work. Once the base is done, I get to working on the pebbles, turning them into large pieces of Plexiglas. After they've been transfigured, I use strengthening charms on them and start to assemble them together, molding them so that there aren't any seams in the finished product. Upon finishing that, my next job is to cast spells so that the bottom of our tank looks like the bottom of the lake. It had taken three trips and a few mishaps with some Gillyweed before the three of us found out what that particular area of the school looked like.

After the entire job is done, the three of us sit in the stands and observe our masterpiece. It is pretty damn impressive. Remus pulls some butterbeer from his bag and passes the bottles to Ann and me. Sitting back, we toast to our success and hope for even more with a successful prank.

~+~SB~+~

I watch as James paces in the locker room, my bat swinging back and forth. He's way too nervous because he doesn't want us to play today. He doesn't think that the team is ready. He doesn't know he's going to get his wish of more time.

"Team listen up!" James says at last, "I know we're not all ready for this game. I know we all want some more time to practice, but we don't have that time. So, I want you all to give it your all in this one. Let's show them what Gryffindor is made of!"

The team leaves the lockers and I smile as I walk next to James. We're the oldest members of the team, having been on since third year, and James is one of the best Captains that we could have ever asked for. Of course, that also means that he's one of the most fanatical of us. Luckily, that seems to have calmed down some since fourth year.

As the team walks onto the pitch, they wouldn't let us fly around since apparently the teachers don't like it when things are thrown into the crowds (Though in my defense, the Slytherins were asking for it.), I smile, waiting for the signal. When I see a flash of purple in the stands, I send the trigger spell at the field, watching with a grin as the tank reveals itself.

It looks like water is bubbling up from the thin air. And that image isn't helped by the fact that the water in the tank looks like it is floating in thin air. The lake bottom looks spectacular and the squid swimming around is just the perfect detail. When the whole thing is revealed, I can't help but to smile. Then I notice James's expression.

"Well, it looks like you got your wish for us to get more time for practice," I say, grinning the entire time.

James glares at me, "Not what I meant Padfoot."

I smile and then notice McGonagall striding toward us, her eyes narrowed and lips pursed. James gives me a glare. I know that he's going to hate it if he gets in trouble for a prank that he didn't cause and that had interrupted his Quidditch.

"Relax James, you won't take the fall for this," Remus says from behind me. He has a certain satisfied look on his face that makes him look like the cat that ate the canary.

"Besides, everyone knows you'd never do anything against your precious Quidditch." Ann has a smirk on her face and is twirling her wand in her fingers.

McGonagall walks up, "Misters Black and Lupin and Miss Grimwood, follow me."

The three of us give salutes before following her in a mock march. That idea is soon abandoned when Remus tries to trip me with my own broom. I almost believe his innocent look before remembering this is Remus I'm dealing with. His innocent look always means that he had a hand in whatever the problem was. Giving him a glare, I stick my tongue out at him and am rewarded by him sniggering at me. Ann shakes her head at the both of us and somehow manages to almost get us caught in a trick stair.

Finally arriving at McGonagall's office, the woman orders us into the room and to take seats in front of her desk. And that's when there's a small crack in the armor. That's when McGonagall surprises all three of us.

"First of all, congratulations on the excellent display of magic that you showed today. I imagine it took quite a bit of planning?"

The three of us nod.

"While this is commendable, I would appreciate it if you showed that much effort in your homework. Second, I am disappointed that you interrupted the match. However this also turned out to be quite the educational experience for the younger students.

More nods, but also slightly heavy hearts. We were not aiming to educate, but to just cause slight amusement.

"Next, I would like to know why you thought of a giant fish tank?"

Remus and Ann turn to me, "We'd like to know that as well."

"Honestly? Couldn't tell you, because the idea just popped into my mind," I say, giving a shrug.

McGonagall raises an eyebrow, but continues, "Yes, well, in lieu of a detention, I want a three foot essay about what you did to achieve this prank and why it will not be done again."

Our heads drop and we sigh. I swear I hear McGonagall chuckle. That sadistic woman.


	12. Of Ending Fifth Year and OWL Results

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

I pack my trunk, glancing around to make sure I haven't forgotten anything when I see the book that James, Remus, Sirius and I have been reading from. Stupid thing will only let us read so much until it decides that we have something that we need to do in order to further ourselves and our magic. Though, it was rather useful in helping the guy achieve their animagus transformations. And it helped Remus be able to communicate with Moony better, so I guess it's not all bad. I throw it into my trunk and close it. Sitting on the lid, I glance around the room again, making sure, once more, that I haven't left anything out.

"Hey Grimwood?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you seen my hairclip? The silver one?" Evans asks.

I roll my eyes, "_Accio Evans's silver hair clip_!"

The clip flies from the top of her wardrobe and lands in my hand. I toss it to her and she blushes.

"Forgot again?"

"Yes."

"You'll get used to it eventually," I smile, "Besides, this is your fifth full year of knowing about magic. I think it's perfectly normal to forget once in a while."

Evans smiles at me, "I guess you're right. Severus always teases me about it."

And that's when things become kind of awkward. I wasn't there at the time, too busy helping Rowan with a question he had about Runes, but from what I heard, there was a confrontation between James and Sirius and Snape and Evans. James and Sirius were being little berks to Snape, Snape sent a spell that cut James's cheek. Things progressed from there until Evans tried to step in. And that's when Snape called Evans a mudblood. She was mad for a while and then started to cool down. It had seemed like they were going to patch up their friendship until one of Snape's "friends" called Evans a mudblood and he hadn't done anything about it. Now he was apparently acting depressed enough that the Marauders haven't pranked him, yet he won't apologise and Evans is still mad.

I give myself a mental shake and smile, "Of course I'm right, I am Ann the Great! Now, shall we get down to the Great Hall for breakfast before leaving on the train?"

Evans nods when her stomach growls and the both of us start the long descent to the Great Hall. We end up discussing something that Flitwick had mentioned in charms the other day. Someone was trying to invent a spell that would work better than lumos.

"I just don't see the point in trying to beat a dead horse," I say, shaking my head.

Evans rolls her eyes, "You don't get it. If this works, then it could do wonders to the charms world. Just think of all the practical applications!"

"But why would we need a container for a lumos charm? Why would we need to place it into something that can be turned on and off?" I ask, slightly amused because I know what she's thinking of.

"Have you ever seen a lamp from the muggle world? You can turn it on and off no problem and there's no need for wand waving or anything like that. Plus it doesn't matter your age or ability," Lily says, "If someone were able to make a spell that would be able to be placed into containers, then that means it could be done to other spells."

I chuckle as we walk into the Great Hall. Sitting across from each other, I watch as she grabs some toast and butters it. I take a drink of coffee and frown.

"The problem with that is that some people will see it as too close to the muggle world." I hold up a hand, stopping her comment, "I'm not one of those people. I see where the idea has merit, but I also know things that you don't realise about the wizarding world. It is already possible for us to make balls of light, but it is something that not many people do."

"Why not?"

"It's seen as a childish sort of thing."

Evans tilts her head, the question obvious on her face.

"Most children raised in a wizarding family learn it. No one knows how, especially since most adults forget how to cast them, but a lot of people think that the children figure it out on instinct. Since most adults forget how to cast them, they don't see the point in a spell like that," I explain.

Evans frowns, "So because they've forgotten something, that means that it's less important? Just because it's something that children do, they don't see the point in it?"

I shrug, "Not everyone is like that, luckily, but they tend to be the minority. And it doesn't help that most of the old families in power do not care for the whims of children. It's understandable to a point, after all, what do children really understand about running a nation of magic users, but there are views that children have that the adults really should learn to listen to."

"If only someone could explain that to them."

I smile, hold my hand out, palm up, and conjure a ball of purple light. Evans's eyes grow wide as she looks at it, then looks at me, her emerald eyes shining.

"As cliché as it sounds, we will be able to at some point. Right now we have to be content learning."

Evans blinks, "Could you teach me that?"

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

Throwing the last of my things into my trunk, I close the lid and glance around the room. Finding nothing left, I lock the trunk and set it next to the door, next to Remus's trunk. I lean against the wall, my hands immediately going into the pockets of my jeans as I think about what I am going to do for the summer. I don't know where to go or what to do. I've effectively run away from home, and by now mother has probably blasted me off the tapestry like she did with Andromeda. There aren't very many relatives who would have taken me in, even when I was still a member of the family. Not many of the Blacks like me.

"There's always Uncle Alphard," I mutter.

"Uncle Alphard for what?" James asks, walking from the bathroom with his toiletries.

"A place to live during the holidays."

James looks confused, "What do you mean? You're living with me."

"Really? Your mum and dad won't mind?"

"Mind? Bloody hell mate, they've practically adopted you as their own!" James says, dumping his things in his trunk.

I smile as I realise that I was being an idiot. Then again, the Potters have always been known for being a family full of surprises. Practically adopting the runaway of a Dark family is probably the least surprising thing they've done. I run a hand along the back of my neck and help James pack his trunk. After that's finished we start toward the Great Hall, hoping that they'll still be serving breakfast.

"So do you think we should bring Boyer onto the team?" James asks, "She's a good keeper, but I don't know if she's able to do something without whining."

I shrug, "She is a good player, and she's pretty decent looking in the uniform, but she whines so bloody much."

"If you think she whines too much, then she's definitely bad," James says, giving a Cheshire grin.

"Oh shut up."

James laughs and my eyes narrow. A moment later, James gives a yelp and holds his arm and I grin.

"Don't bruise the goods!" James rubs his arm, faux scowl on his face.

"What goods? You have arms as thin as twigs." I smirk, "Besides, I didn't hit that hard Jamesie."

James glares, "Don't. Call. Me. JAMSIE!"

"Why not?" I pinch his cheek, "Poor Jamsie, is big bad Sirius picking on you?"

"You know," James says with a grin, "You sound a lot like your cousin Bellatrix when you do that."

I glare at him as we enter the Great Hall, "That's a low blow."

"I've warned you before."

"Still! It's not fair."

"Sorry."

"No you're not."

"Obviously."

I sit down next to Ann, still glaring at James, "Ann, James is picking on me."

"You're a big boy, take care of it yourself."

"Can I bite him?"

"No."

"But-"

"Unless you want the muzzle to come out, no."

I pout at Ann, and then finally notice that Evans is sitting across from her, watching James and me with barely disguised disgust. I smile at her before grabbing a waffle and some bacon and pouring some pumpkin juice.

"Ok, so if you don't want Boyer," I say, turning back to James, "who would you want?"

James snaps out of staring at Evans, "Er…I was thinking of someone else, but I don't think that they'll take it."

"Why not?"

"They don't like to play Quidditch, but are really good at it and flying."

I frown, thinking of people in Gryffindor who are good at both flying and Quidditch, but don't like them. I can only think of two people. One who just doesn't care to play, and the other who would rather be caught dead than actually play.

"Better go with Boyer," I tell him as I turn back to my breakfast. He sighs and pushes his eggs around on his plate before spiking a few and placing them in his mouth. Noticing a twitch in Evans's finger, I quickly wrap the remainder of my bacon in my waffle before stepping back from the table.

"All right! What's wrong with you?" she snaps, turning to James.

James's eyebrows come together and he looks rather confused, "I beg your pardon?"

"You've been sitting here for fifteen minutes and haven't done anything remotely annoying," Evans says, "What happened?"

"If you want me to be annoying, I can be," James says, his eyebrows lifting, "But I'd rather not because it's a nice day out and I'm really not in the mood to greet my mother with spotted skin or antlers."

Evans's eyes narrow and she stands from the table, "Thank you Grimwood. I hope you'll be able to teach me that trick in the fall."

Ann nods, "Sure, just remind me when we get back."

Evans gives her a grin before turning on her heel and leaving the Hall. I sit back down and look at Ann with raised eyebrows.

"What?"

"Since when have you and Evans been on friendly terms?"

"Since she realised that I'm not as bad as she thought," Ann says, giving a small shrug.

James smiles, "Well, maybe I can do the same thing."

I bite my lip, not wanting to ruin his mood by telling him that I really don't think that is likely.

~*+)o(+*~MWPP~*+)o(+*~

_We are pleased to report the following OWL scores for James C. Potter:_

_Astronomy- Average_

_Care of Magical Creatures: Exceeds Expectations_

_Charms- Outstanding_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts- Outstanding_

_Divination- Dreadful_

_Herbology- Outstanding_

_History of Magic- Average_

_Potions- Outstanding_

_Transfiguration- Outstanding_

~*+)o(+*~MWPP~*+)o(+*~

_We are pleased to report the following OWL scores for Sirius O. Black:_

_Astronomy- Exceeds Expectations_

_Charms- Outstanding_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts- Outstanding_

_Divination- Dreadful_

_Herbology- Exceeds Expectations_

_History of Magic- Dreadful_

_Muggle Studies- Outstanding_

_Potions- Outstanding_

_Transfiguration- Outstanding_

~*+)o(+*~MWPP~*+)o(+*~

_We are pleased to report the following OWL scores for Remus J. Lupin:_

_Ancient Ruins- Outstanding_

_Astronomy- Outstanding_

_Care of Magical Creatures- Outstanding_

_Charms- Outstanding_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts- Outstanding_

_Herbology- Outstanding_

_History of Magic- Outstanding_

_Potions- Exceeds Expectations_

_Transfiguration- Outstanding_

~*+)o(+*~MWPP~*+)o(+*~

_We are pleased to report the following OWL scores for Peter A. Pettigrew:_

_Astronomy- Exceeds Expectations_

_Care of Magical Creatures- Average_

_Charms- Exceeds Expectations_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts- Average_

_Divination- Average_

_Herbology- Outstanding_

_History of Magic- Outstanding_

_Potions- Average_

_Transfiguration- Exceeds Expectations_

~*+)o(+*~MWPP~*+)o(+*~

_We are pleased to report the following OWL scores for Lily D. Evans:_

_Ancient Ruins- Outstanding_

_Arithmancy- Outstanding_

_Astronomy- Outstanding_

_Charms- Outstanding_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts- Outstanding_

_Herbology- Outstanding_

_History of Magic- Outstanding_

_Potions- Outstanding_

_Transfiguration- Exceeds Expectations_

~*+)o(+*~MWPP~*+)o(+*~

_We are pleased to report the following OWL scores for Annalisa A. Grimwood:_

_Ancient Ruins- Outstanding_

_Arithmancy- Outstanding_

_Astronomy- Exceeds Expectations_

_Charms- Outstanding_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts- Outstanding_

_Herbology- Exceeds Expectations_

_History of Magic- Dreadful_

_Potions- Exceeds Expectations_

_Transfiguration- Outstanding_

**AN/ I know, two updates in a short amount of time, but please don't die of shock. Anyway, I understand that the OWL results may seem a little odd or at least stacked to make all of the characters seem incredibly smart, but I think they all would have been. Would they apply themselves in class? Probably not, excepting Remus and Lily, but that doesn't mean that they aren't intelligent. Thank you to those who have reviewed/favorite-ed/alerted/read!**


	13. Of the Calm Before the Storm

~*~Ann's POV~*~

I frown as I read the newspaper. More death, disappearance and panic. It seems that whatever Voldemort wanted, he was getting it. And it doesn't look like he is going to stop his "work" any time soon. Father had told me when I arrived that he had retracted his thought about volunteering me for the Duck Lord's services. Father said that he's starting to think that Voldemort is not on the right track to get done what he wants. I don't care what father's reasoning is, I'm just glad that he decided to go against his original thoughts. For one, I would never be a good little Death Muncher. I don't agree with the company policies. And two, it would probably go against my job as an Auror. Turning the page in the paper, I wonder if I may be psychic.

**Department of Magical Law Enforcement Changes Auror Training.**

** In a surprising move, the DMLE changed their time period of Auror Training from three years to a year and a half. This change is brought into effect due to the problems that the Auror department is facing with the threat of Lord Voldemort. This time change will take place immediately, excluding the current Auror class, class 906, and will be effective until a better strategy is found. While this seems to be an intelligent move, one must ask themselves if our Aurors will be able to handle the challenges brought to them with this reduction in training, or if they will be overwhelmed by the terrors that our world is currently facing?**

I bite my lip and tap the article with my finger. This could cause some problems, but I think that it's an overall good move. It would be better if the Aurors could get training while in Hogwarts, but I don't know if the DMLE would allow that. It would also be a good idea if they changed their uniforms. Those red robes and cloaks are entirely too obvious.

I hear a rustling at the hole my mail comes through and glance over at it. A black and white owl flies in and lands on my desk. I smile at it and run my fingers down it's spine.

"Hello Vlad. It's been a long time since I last saw you," I say, taking the letter from him. I hand the bird and owl treat and open Sirius's letter.

**Ann,**

** I never thought I would say this, but I love this summer! It's great living at James's place. The only thing is, I'm having some problems. Apparently dear mum and dad don't want to let me go quite so easily, which is making this both a pain in the arse and confusing as hell. Why can't they make up their bloody minds? I swear, my family is full of nutters. **

** This isn't exactly a completely social letter either. I was kind of wondering if you know if it's normal to feel as though you miss, I guess that's the best word, Dark Magic? I know that sounds completely crazy, and I'm not too thrilled about it either, but I honestly feel as though there's something of me that is missing. I know it sounds odd, but that's the only thing I can think of, other than Reg, but I know that he can't come over and write him often enough for him to have wallpapered his room in my letters. You're the only person I could think of who might know what I'm talking about and won't freak out on me. Please help.**

** Sirius**

I re-read Sirius's letter a couple of times. As much as I hate to admit it, it sounds like his magic may be going through withdrawal. He's been around Dark Magic since birth, and has probably been using it, on and off, since he was young. It sounds like how I felt when I started Hogwarts. I didn't realise it at the time, but I became used to that constant flow of Dark Magic in and around me. Sirius is probably going through the same thing, though I'm surprised that he didn't recognize it.

'_But he's only been using Dark Magic for a couple of summers. He didn't really use it beforehand. Not like you did. Plus his parents probably didn't use it on him that much, after all the Blacks are far more bureaucratic than the Grimwoods._' I frown at the thought and pull out a quill and some parchment.

_Sirius,_

_ Don't know what to tell you about your family, but they've never exactly been sane. Anyway, I think you may be going through withdrawal. It seems like the best answer. You were raised around a lot of Dark Magic and recently started using it a lot during the summers, so it's bound to be in your system. Dark Magic can become addictive to people, especially if they aren't used to it. You should be fine so long as you don't start going crazy. Well, crazier than you are. If you notice any significant change in your personality or attitude, let me know so I can figure out what's happening, all right? Have fun with James, and I'll see you sometime, I hope, before September._

_ Ann_

I tap my wand on the parchment, using a spell to dry the ink and then place it in an envelope and send it off to Sirius. Hopefully he'll listen to me.

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

Lightning flashes and I don't even flinch. My body is soaked with rain, but I don't care. I keep having nightmares and nothing I do gets rid of them. My feet swing back and forth as I look out over the Potter's land. It's beautiful, but I don't notice that right now. All I see are the shadows that stretch dark and deep across the land, becoming less obvious, yet more menacing in the lightning.

"Padfoot! What the hell are you doing?" James yells from inside the house.

"Sitting in the rain."

"I can see that. Why are you sitting on the railing of the balcony though? If you're going to be crazy and sit in the middle of a thunderstorm, at least be sure you won't fall to your death!"

I chuckle, "I won't fall."

I hear James mutter under his breath, not caring to decipher what he's saying, but I keep watching the storm. Inside my head is just as wild as outside, and I can't help but wonder if I'm finally falling from the edge of sanity.

~+~SB~+~

Climbing onto the train, I feel myself getting slightly twitchy. So many people, too many. I frown. Since when have I been against being around a bunch of people? Shaking my head, I walk to our usual compartment and sit in one of the window seats. James soon ducks into the compartment with me, laughing slightly.

"This is going to be a good year," he says.

I grin, "Merlin I hope so. No OWLs to prepare for!"

The door opens and Remus walks in and places his bag in his chair before walking out. Before the door closes, we hear him telling off some kids about trying to plant dungbombs in one of the compartments and confiscating the bombs.

"And Remus is at it all ready," James says, a fond grin on his face, "He may not be able to control us, but he does wonders for the rest of the Hogwarts population."

I chuckle, "I don't think there's anyone who can control the Marauders."

"Well Merlin I hope not," Peter says as he walks in. He's got a nice tan from his family's trip to Italy this year and grins at us.

"We're all accounted for now, excellent!" James says, clapping.

I roll my eyes, "Amazing, James can count to four and remember who his friends are. Such improvement from last year."

He narrows his eyes at me, "Prat."

"And you love me anyway."

"Only because you're my brother."

"I'll take it as I get it."

The door opens again and Ann walks in, Rowan and Regulus behind her, "I found some strays, can we keep them?"

James shakes his head, "Sorry, but we already have Padfoot. One stray is enough for us right now."

"Hey!"

"Oh, be nice Jamesie," Ann says, smirk fighting to break out on her face.

"Don't call me Jamesie!"

"You do realise that the more you tell them not to do something, the more they're going to do it, right?" Regulus asks as he walks into the compartment and sits next to me. I can smell the residual Dark Magic on Regulus and have to shake my head. Bloody smell can be intoxicating.

"Of course he does," Ann says, sitting on the floor under the window, "Jamesie boy just likes to complain."

James frowns, "Is this pick on James day?"

"Yes," everyone in the compartment says, even Peter, which surprises me.

"Fine," James pouts, "Just see how you like being ignored."

Ann and I shrug and start up a conversation about the Falmouth Falcons.

**AN/ I know, tiny itty bitty chapter, but look at this way. I updated quickly again! **


	14. Of Chaos Breaking

~+~SB~+~

I glance out the window at the September moon. Tomorrow is the full moon, and Remus was showing it. Shaking my head, I catch the smell of Dark Magic and have to close my eyes at the intense hunger that rears its head at that smell. Feeling angered and annoyed at myself, I feel those emotions triple when I see Snape in front of me. Greasy git.

"What do you want Snape?" I ask, "I'm trying to get back to my dorm, and I advise you to do the same."

Snape sneers at me, "And why would I listen to you? From what I've seen, you aren't too stable these days."

I raise an eyebrow, "What do you mean stable? If you're talking about balance, last I knew, I am perfectly fine with that. If you don't mind, I'm not in the mood to deal with insufferable idiots who don't know how to wash their hair or stay away from magic that likes to bite back."

"I mean you're unstable mentally. More so than normal that is. Though I'm surprised that you have enough of a brain to become unstable," Snape says.

"Yes yes, get some new bloody material. All the cracks at my intelligence, or as you would prefer to think lack thereof, are getting rather dull."

"Yet, you're defensive every time. Tell me, how's Bellatrix and Narcissia? I've heard that they're doing wonderfully."

My eyes narrow at him, "Then you know more than me."

"That's right, the fallen Black. Yet, you're acting more and more like your relatives every day."

"Fine, you can bugger off now."

"Hit a nerve did I?"

"You heard me Snape."

"I think I did! Imagine, the great Sirius Black has a sore spot when it comes to family."

"I'm warning you Snivellous."

"Poor pampered prince doesn't like his family who probably waited on him hand and foot."

"Fuck off!"

"I don't think I will," Snape says with a smirk, "You see, I know that if I bother you enough, I can get what I want."

I roll my eyes, "And what does the Lord of the Greasy Gits desire? If it's shampoo, I will be more than willing to grant you that gift."

"I want information. Of course, I don't know if you'd be aware enough to tell me what is going on with Lupin, with all of your personal problems going on."

I pull him into a classroom and slam the door, warding it against prying ears, "What the bloody hell do you fucking want? And don't piss me off any more by avoiding the subject. Just tell me what you what to know about Remus and I may decide not to hex you to your commons."

Snape smirks and sits by the open window. A breeze floats in, sending the smell of Dark Magic floating toward me. It's not as enticing as when the smell is wafting around Ann or Regulus, but it still gets under my skin and makes my blood sing for it. I clench my jaw, trying to ignore that feeling and focusing on my loathing of Snape, which is growing by the second.

"I just want to know where Lupin goes. What does he do during nights like tomorrow?" Snape asks.

The way he asks and how specific his question is, sends my mind on high alert. Snape knows. Goddamn it, he fucking knows! My mind races, trying to figure out a way to get out of this.

"I don't know what he does, probably sleep like most people do," I say, "Why would you ask that?"

"Surely even someone with brains as addled as yours would notice the pattern of Remus being sick," Snape says, "Every day after the full moon, we either don't see Remus, or he looks like he should be dead. Only a few things could cause that."

I shrug, "Ever think that he's up late studying?"

"With a book that bites back? You surely must be as psychotic as your mother if you believe that's possible."

My eyes narrow and my temper flares, "I'll have you know that no one can be as psychotic as my mum. Plus there are books that bite. I would know as a couple of them have bitten me before and I still bear the scars."

"Of course you do," Snape sneers, "Speaking of which, I've always wondered how much your friends know about your home life?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, slightly confused as to how Snape of all people could know anything about my home life, but also worried that he knows more than I think he does.

"Your cousin Bellatrix told me enough for me to be curious. So I dug around a little bit, and you would be amazed at how much information one can find if they look in the right place," Snape says, "So I know exactly why you have changes in moods this year. I know exactly what caused Sirius Black to fall from grace and prove that he is worth the family name."

I grit my teeth, "What does that have to do with Remus? Isn't that what you wanted to find out in the first place?"

"If you tell me where he goes on full moon nights, then I won't tell your friends about your delves into Dark Magic."

"Oh, that's what you're threatening me with? They already know." A bluff.

"Only Grimwood knows, and that's because she's too smart for her own good."

Damn. "Fine. Whatever. I don't care enough to stay in here listening to you ramble on, so you know what? Go ahead and tell them. It won't matter. You're not finding anything out from me."

I turn around and start to pull down the wards when Snape says the one thing that makes my blood run cold.

"If you won't tell me, then I'll tell the whole school my suspicions. And I can tell you, there's only one thing that I suspect Lupin of being. Something which is oddly fitting considering his name."

My hand freezes on the doorknob, "You wouldn't take those chances of being wrong."

"It doesn't matter if I'm wrong. The outcry to have him locked up would be just as strong."

I turn around, glaring at Snape, "And you hate him that much that you would ruin his life? When Remus hasn't done anything to you? Except tone down anything we have done to you?"

"I have my own reasons."

I throw up the wards again and turn around with a snarl, "Fine! You really want to know? If I tell you, you keep quiet about what your suspicions are and if I find out that you told anyone, you'll find out just how much of a _Black_ I am."

Snape smirks, "Deal."

"On the Whomping Willow, there's a knot near the base. Touch that and the tree freezes. There's a tunnel underneath that leads to where Remus stays," I say, "Now, prove yourself smarter than I think you are and keep your mouth shut!"

Storming from the room, I feel completely on edge. The smell of Dark Magic clings to me, only adding to the madness swirling in my head. The further I get from Snape, and the cleaner the air is, the more my head clears and the more I realise what a giant mistake I've just made. I told Snape how to get into the Willow. I stop in the middle of the hall and stare at the moon with wide eyes, feeling my blood run cold.

"Dear god…please don't let him be as stupid as I think he is."

~+~SB~+~

The entire day I'm anxious. One, I'm keeping my ears open to find out if Snape told someone about Remus, and the other reason that I'm worried that Snape will do something incredibly stupid. At dinner, I think the problem has been averted when Remus leaves, saying something about forgetting a book in the library and that he'll meet us back in the dorm (code for "I'm leaving for the willow. See you later."), and Snape doesn't follow. Five minutes later, though, I start to panic when I notice that Snape is indeed leaving. Normally, I wouldn't care, except that I know his favorite dessert is being served tonight and he wouldn't miss it for the world. I bite my lip and tap James on the shoulder.

"What is it Sirius?" James asks, setting down his fork.

"I think we have a major problem."

"What?"

I shake my head and pull him from the table. As we're leaving the Great Hall, we bump into Ann, who apparently notices our expressions, and follows us into one of the classrooms. After locking and warding it, I turn to them, shaking.

"Sirius, what's wrong?" Ann asks. She places her hand on my shoulder, and I get a whiff of that damnable smell. Stepping away from her, knowing that if I keep smelling the Dark Magic I won't be able to think straight, I sigh as I realise that they're going to be pissed.

"Snape knows about the knot in the Willow and I think he's going to go there tonight," I say.

Both of them looked shocked, but James speaks first, "How did he find out?"

I rub the back of my neck, "I told him."

Ann's eyes widen and I wince, "Oh Sirius, of all the…wait, when did he leave for the willow?"

"About a minute ago."

Ann and James turn pale.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fucking fuckity McFuck Fuck," Ann mutters, "We need to do something!"

James glares at Sirius, "You're going to Dumbledore's office to tell him what happened. I'm going to get Snape, hopefully before he has a chance to see Moony."

"I'm coming with," Ann says as she dismantles the wards, "You're going to need someone to keep Moony at bay and I'll be able to sneak in without being seen."

I watch in dread as they take off at a sprint, hoping that they get there in time to keep Snape from being mauled by Moony, hoping that they'll be able to eventually forgive me.

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

As I sprint alongside James, I can't help but wonder why Sirius told Snape about the knot in the willow. Sirius would never do something that could hurt his friends, not intentionally at least. Shaking my head, I focus on the problem at hand. Keeping a fully grown werewolf from tearing two people into bits.

As we run up to the willow, James throws a spell at the knot, freezing it. I jump through first, bending my magic as I fall down, and then run once I hit the bottom of the slope. I can hear James behind me and know that now, the only thing we can do is hope and pray that we make it on time.

I see the end of the tunnel, with the trap door already propped open.

"Damn it!" James says.

I give a burst of speed and practically fly up the ladder. I can hear movement above me along with the growls of Moony and I feel my blood run cold. He's already changed and there are three humans in the area.

"Bloody hell, James hurry up!" I snap. Once he's up the ladder, we ascend the stairs and run toward where we see the greasy git. Luckily, my footfalls are silenced, and I stop at the side of the door so I can slip in.

"Don't do it Snape!" James says, catching his breath.

"Why not? Some prank that you're working on and don't want me to see?"

"Don't be stupid! Come with me and leave now, before it's too late!"

Snape grins, "But it is too late. I know what's going on and I want to see with my own eyes!"

Before James can react, Snape throws open the door, revealing a werewolf in the middle of padding the floor, obviously trying to figure out how to get to the people on the other side of the door. I leap in, and turn into Shadow. James swears and grabs the handle, slamming it shut right as Moony leapt at it. The wolf hits the door and howls in fury. Now that I'm not bending my magic anymore, Moony can see me, and he is pissed. Steeling myself, I realise that this is going to be a really long night.

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

After telling Dumbledore everything that had happened, and receiving detention for the rest of the semester with possibilities of it continuing into the second semester, I start to pace the room, hoping that James and Ann get to Snape in time and that none of them have to deal with a pissed off Moony. We've done it before, and it's never a good thing when Moony is going totally mad. A knock sounds at the door and Snape is pushed in by James who looks pissed. I flinch, knowing that the anger is going to be directed at me.

"Mister Snape, Mister Potter, please have seat. Mister Black has informed me of what has happened. I must commend you, Mister Potter, not many would be brave enough to save someone whom they think unkindly of," Dumbledore says.

James gives a stiff nod.

"I award you fifty points for this, and will now ask for you and Mister Black to head back to Gryffindor Tower. Luck is on your side in that there is still plenty of time until curfew."

James and I leave the room, head down the stairs and toward the Gryffindor common room. In the middle of one of the secret passages, James turns to me, his eyes narrowed. I recognise the tensing in his shoulders and prepare for the punch. Sure enough, a moment later, he lands a firm right hook to my eye.

"I should do more than that Black, but I'm not going to. Because the person who is going to decide your fate is currently unable to make a decision right now," James growls, "Though you shouldn't expect to be a Marauder for much longer."

I don't do anything, or say anything. I know I probably deserve it, even if I told Snape to try and help, it was a stupid thing to actually tell the truth, particularly when lying comes so naturally to me. James turns around and starts walking again. I wait a few steps before following.

**AN/ Please review.**


	15. Of Reintroductions and Cracks in Bonds

~*~Ann's POV~*~

My body trembles with exhaustion as Moony backs away, throwing his head back and forth as though trying to dislodge water from his ears. I lock my shoulders, keeping myself from falling flat on my face. Snarling at him, I manage to corral Moony back into the room that we had found him in last night. Once I can hear the reverse of the transformation happening, I crawl into one of the other rooms. We usually try to help Remus into his cloak, the boys do at least, and onto one of the less broken pieces of furniture if he isn't too injured, but I know that I'm too exhausted to try to start to heal him, and that he is entirely too injured to be moved anyway.

I drag myself under the couch and wait for Madam Pomfrey to pick up Remus, knowing that if I leave before she comes, that I'll be caught for sure. Pomfrey usually is here about three minutes after the sun has risen, which is about seven or eight minutes after the reverse of the transformation has taken place. I purposefully lean against one of my injuries to keep myself from falling asleep, knowing that if I do go to sleep, that I won't wake up for a couple of days.

The door across the hall from me opens and I hear Pomfrey's mutterings. I sigh in relief when she leaves and begin the long trudge back up to the castle.

~*~AG~*~

Evans nudges my shoulder again, waking me up for what feels like the thousandth time. She keeps sending me looks, curious as to what the problem is, but I shake my head as gently as I can and return to writing notes.

I ache. Not just in one place. Everywhere. My back and shoulders are a mess, I think I dislocated my left elbow, and I have a bunch of other injuries that I cannot decipher through the aches my body is screaming at me. Luckily, I took a pain relieving potion, and have another couple for later. I want to take one now, and get it over with, but if I do, I'll just end up falling asleep.

"Grimwood, could you please tell me what is wrong?" Evans whispers.

I shake my head, "No big deal. I apparently decided to sleepwalk last night and fell down a couple of flights of stairs."

Evans flinches and nods.

I almost sigh in relief but instead turn my attention to the front of class. I just hope that we can get out of Arithmancy in time, I really need to talk with Sirius. James and Peter aren't talking with him, and no one has been to see Remus. Not that we all haven't tried, but Madam Pomfrey is insistent that he is in absolutely no condition to have visitors. This is something I can agree with easily, especially since I know what happened with the wolf last night.

The bell rings and I hurry as much as possible, trying not to agitate any injuries. I can hear Evans muttering behind me and roll my eyes, not slowing down until I reach the Great Hall. After doing a quick search of Gryffindor table, I frown when I don't see Sirius. Walking to James and Peter, I wonder if maybe they know where he went.

"Hey James, Peter, do either of you know where Sirius went?" I ask.

James raises an eyebrow, "Why would I know where Black is?"

"Maybe because last I knew you two are mates and all that," I say, frowning at his tone.

"Black lost that right until further notice." Translation: We're being berks until Remus is healed enough to make the decision himself.

"Did you even ask him what happened?"

"Doesn't matter. We'd promised not to mention anything about the hiding hole. He broke that promise."

I grit my teeth, "I never would have expected that from you."

"And I never would have expected you to stick up for him," James says.

Shaking my head, I turn around and leave the Great Hall. Lost in thought, I don't even realise who is walking next to me until they clear their throat.

"What's going on between all of you?" Evans asks.

I sigh, "I really can't outright explain it, but Sirius did something incredibly stupid, yet those gits won't find out what happened. I don't care who is in the wrong or right or whatever. All I know is that my friends are being jerks, and, as you love pointing out, when they act like jerks they can be vicious to those that they don't like. Something needs to be done before they tear each other apart."

"I just want to know why Potter won't talk with Black," Evans says, "Even as someone who isn't a part of the group and is just an outside observer, I can tell that Black is loyal to a fault. He'd do anything for his friends, so there has to be a good reason for whatever the incredibly stupid thing that he's done."

"Merlin I hope so," I mutter. Arriving at the fruit bowl, I tickle the pear and open the door. Once inside the kitchens, it only takes a moment to find Sirius. The boy looks like he hasn't had any sleep, and with the way he's playing with his food, I doubt that he's had anything to eat either.

Evans and I sit across from him, startling him.

"Come to yell at me too?" he asks, voice soft. That's when I notice that one of his eyes doesn't have a shadow on it from lack of sleep, but that it's bruised, like someone punched him.

"Now why on earth would I do that?" I ask, tilting his chin up. I examine his eye with a frown, "I'm sorry, but I'm horrid with healing bruises. You'll have to walk around with it."

"No he won't," Evans says, pulling out her wand. She circles the eye with the tip, muttering the spell under her breath. Within a few passes, the bruise is gone.

Sirius reaches up and feels the skin. He gives a small smile to Evans, "Thank you."

Evans blinks a few times before nodding.

"I know you don't want to, but could you tell us as much about what happened as you can?" I ask.

Sirius sighs, and rubs the back of his neck, "I really don't know how much I can tell without giving some…sensitive information."

"If you're worried about me knowing of Remus's Lycanthropy, then you shouldn't," Evans says, "I've known since fourth year, and have just been waiting for him to tell me himself."

"That makes it a little easier," Sirius says before beginning his tale. Once he's finished, I lean back in my chair and look at the ceiling.

Evans, on the other hand, isn't so calm.

"I can't _believe_ that he would do that! What happened to the boy I used to know? The Severus I knew would _never_ do anything like that!" she shouts, "It's those damn _friends_ of his. They've turned him from a really sweet boy into someone who enjoys hurting others! Oh! If I ever manage to get my hands on them, they'll be so sorry! Stupid gits!"

"Evans, relax and sit down," I command, "No use in getting worked up over this."

"Why not?"

"Because, what's done is done," I shrug, "Besides, we have a more important issue to deal with."

Sirius looks wary, "What do you mean?"

I raise an eyebrow at him and let off a pulse of Dark Magic. Sirius slams his eyes shut and clenches his jaw. Evans, on the other hand, looks between the two of us, confused.

"That is what we need to work on. Why didn't you tell me that this was happening?"

"I thought it would go away with time."

"And has it?"

"No."

"It's become worse, hasn't it?"

"Yes."

I huff, "I told you to come talk with me if it became worse."

Sirius throws his hands in the air, stands, and starts pacing, "I'm _sorry_, but it's not exactly easy to discuss with someone that you are going through withdrawals of Dark Magic! Most people tend not to take that well. Besides, how the hell was I supposed to know that you would be able to help? Granted you said that you would, but what if the problem is too much for you to handle? This is not exactly a prank that needs a quick adjusting!"

My eyes narrow and I stand and face him. I can tell that my face has gone into an impressive sneer, but I don't care. "I understand that right now, you are not going through the best of times, but that is no reason for you to start treating me like that! I will not tolerate being given attitude by some prissy pureblood heir, understand?" I ask, my voice taking on its typical drawl

Sirius snarls and collapses into his chair. Placing his head in his hands, the boy takes a few deep breaths before looking up at me. I relax when I see my friend again.

"I'm sorry. I just-I don't know."

I shrug, "Eh, just don't do it again."

"What does Black mean when he says that he's going through withdrawals of Dark Magic?" Evans asks. We'd both forgotten that she's still here.

"When someone is raised in a place with Dark Magic, they get used to feeling it around them. It isn't as bad for them if they're taken away from that magic, they might not even notice that they are going through withdrawal. But if a person uses Dark Magic, then the process is ten times as bad, and that's if they aren't raised in a Dark environment," I explain, "However, if someone is raised in a Dark environment _and_ they use Dark Magic, then the withdrawal can cause a person to go insane."

"So you've used Dark Magic?" Evans asks, turning to Sirius.

He looks wary as he nods.

Evans frowns, "I'm really not sure if I agree with that."

I sigh and glance at my watch. Deciding that the next class won't be as important as this, I sit down and order some food before explaining to Evans the history of our families, as well as how Dark Magic isn't evil. Merlin knows that the more people who know the truth about it, the better.

~*~AG~*~

Standing in the room of requirement with Sirius and Evans, who I am slowly starting to think I should just call by her first name, I pace for a moment or two and pull out my wand. Flicking it once, the lights dim slightly and I nod in satisfaction.

"All right. I'm going to show you one spell. This spell is one that is less harmful than other, but is still considered Dark," I say. Pointing my wand into the empty space, I give the familiar movement and mutter, "_Suscitatio umbra_."

The shadows around me and where my wand is pointed turn into wolves and dogs, animated into moving beings. A couple of them shake their fur out before facing me.

I smile, "Go play."

Wagging their tails, the shadows begin to frolic and I turn back to Evans and Sirius. Sirius looks bored, he's seen this spell before, but Evans is watching with wide eyes. Turning to me she asks for an explanation and I roll my eyes as I explain what the spell is and what it does.

"Wow, that sounds like it takes a lot of power Grimwood," Evans says.

I frown when I realise that I've finally had enough with this, "I should have done this years ago."

"Done what?" Evans asks.

"Hi, my name is Annalisa Grimwood, but please call me Ann," I say, holding my hand out to the girl. She blinks at me in confusion. Slowly, she takes my hand and shakes it.

"Lily Evans."

I smile, "Pleasure to meet you! Oh! And I'd like you to meet my friend Sirius Black. Sirius, this is Lily Evans."

I watch as they shake hands. Sirius then gives a flamboyant bow.

"A pleasure to meet such a gracious lady."

Lily giggles, "You really are a character."

"I try."

Wishing for some couches, I jump onto one of them and take off my shoes and tie. Crossing my legs, I wait for the other two to relax, and almost laugh when Sirius circles the couches just to flop on one and lounge on it. Evans-no Lily- shakes her head and sits on the only open couch.

"Ok, so what was that all about?" Evans asks, "We've already met."

"But not formally, and not on amicable terms. I figured it would be a good idea," I say, giving a shrug. "Formal introductions can be important in the Wizarding world, but I did that just because I got sick of you calling me 'Grimwood'."

Lily smiles, "Neither of you like your surnames do you?"

Sirius and I shudder, "No."

"We're the black sheep for a reason. Why do you think our families try not to talk about, much less with, us as much as they can?" I ask.

Sirius turns to me, "Speaking of which, I was wondering if you could scan my mail. I've been getting…disturbing letters lately."

I nod. Soon the three of us are talking and laughing, and it is something that I would admit that I would never had thought possible, and, if I'm reading the looks Lily kept giving correctly, then neither did she. I smile, glad that something good can come from this whole mess.

~+~ Sirius's POV~+~

After we leave for dinner, I tell Lily, it's weird calling her that, and Ann to go ahead, that I want to see if I can talk with Remus.

"Are you sure you don't want one of us to come with you?" Lily asks, concern in her voice.

I shake my head, "No, thank you though."

Lily nods and Ann gives me a look that means something along the lines of 'If you have any problems, come get me, no matter what'. I wave them off and head for the Hospital Wing. I feel slightly nervous about talking with him, but I would rather explain everything to Remus than have him hear only half the story. I walk into the infirmary and glance at Madam Pomfrey, she holds up a finger, finishes marking on some parchment and looks up.

"I take it you would like to see Mister Lupin?"

I nod, "But, I need to tell him something that might not go over too well."

Pomfrey frowns, "Need you tell him now?"

"Yes."

She frowns, but allows me to talk to Remus. I sigh and walk over to where his bed is. Taking in a breath, I straighten my shoulders and walk in. Remus smiles slightly when he sees me.

"I was starting to wonder if you all were never going to come," Remus says.

I give a tight grin, nerves battling inside me, as I sit down. "Yeah…well…Remus, there's something I have to tell you."

"Did something happen? Did one of you get hurt?" Remus asks, frightened by my tone.

I shake my head, "I don't know. You'd have to ask Ann. That's-that's not what I need to talk to you about. You see, there's a reason why last night was worse than before."

Remus blinks, "Does this have to do with the frustration that Moony felt last night?"

"You remember?"

"No," Remus says, shaking his head, "Not anything concrete. I remember…it's funny because I shouldn't have…but I remember Moony being frustrated because he couldn't get to some people he smelled. But, no one but you four, Professor Dumbledore, and Madam Pomfrey know how to get into the Willow, so that can't be right. Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey never come during the full moon, and you four know better than to show up in human form."

I sigh, rubbing a hand on the back of my neck and looking in my lap, "There's one more person who knows. Who just found out recently."

Remus's eyes widen, "W-wh-who?"

"Snape."

"H-how did he find out?"

"Because he threatened to tell the school his suspicions of you being a werewolf if I didn't tell him," I say. Finally I glance at Remus from under my fringe. He's sitting against the headboard, stiff and pale. I watch the emotions flash through his eyes. Confusion, sadness, worry, anger, resignation, and finally a mixture of fury and betrayal.

"How _dare_ you. That was not for you to say. You could have lied, said that you don't know, or come up with something other than telling him," Remus says, his voice low and shaking in anger, "Leave. I don't want to see you again."

"Remus, I-"

"_Now, Black!_"

Pulling back as though physically slapped, I give a short nod and stand. I walk over to the curtains and glance back at my bandaged friend.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. I then leave the area and the Hospital Wing, barely noticing the worried look on Pomfrey's face. As soon as I'm past the doors, I take off at a run, not even bothering to pay attention to anything around me except what is in front of me. I soon end up in the forest and turn into Padfoot and just keep running, hoping to outrun the feeling eating me from the inside out.

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

I pace the common room, biting my lip and glancing at the clock. Lily, who was reading, kept glancing up once in a while to watch, but otherwise kept quiet. The portrait opens, and I turn to it, expectant and hopeful, but scowl when James and Peter walk in.

"Damn it!" I growl, and start pacing again.

"What's wrong Ann?" James asks.

I glance at the clock before looking out the window, wondering if Sirius is walking the grounds.

"Sirius isn't back from visiting Remus yet. He went before dinner and it's past nine now," I say, "I'm worried."

"Don't worry about Black. Remus told me what happened, and he's pissed off at Black," James says, his voice hard, "I agree with Remus's decision."

I spin around, facing him, a snarl on my face, "I thought you were his best friend? His brother?"

"And after all that my family and I have done for him, he treats one of my friends, one of _his_ friends, like he did? That's not right!" James snaps, his voice raising in volume.

"You don't just abandon someone who you care about, though! You didn't even listen to his side of the story to find out what happened!" I'm nearly shouting at this point, as is James.

"I don't need to! The end result is the same! Black has been acting funny since the middle of summer, and I'm starting to wonder if he really is as different from his family as he says he is!"

_SMACK! CRACK!_

I snarl at him, pulling my arm back to punch him again, "Don't you fucking dare! Don't you even presume to say that Potter!" Someone grabs me and holds me back from hitting him, "Let me go! Let me go damnit!"

"Can someone help me?" Lily shouts. Apparently she's the one who grabbed me. One of the larger seventh years comes over and drags me away from James, the both of us yelling insults back and forth, and I'm struggling the entire time, trying to get to Potter.

"I don't get why you're sticking up for him! I thought you hated disloyalty!"

"So does he!"

"Apparently not!"

"Pull you head from out of your arse Potter!"

"That's rich coming from you Grimwood!"

Lily finally bursts, "THAT'S ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU ARE CONFINED TO YOUR DORMS FOR THE NIGHT!"

James, realising that Lily isn't joking around, nods sharply and walks to the stairs. Unfortunately for the seventh year, he has to walk by where we are, and my struggles are doubled. James sneers at me and manages to get up to his dorm, even with broken glasses. Peter naturally follows him. Once James is gone, I stop struggling and stand there, breathing heavily. The seventh year releases me, and as I start up the stairs of the girls' dorm, two thoughts cross my mind. This is going to be a long year, and James Potter better avoid me as much as possible.


	16. Of An Unusual Glue

)o( Remus's POV)o(

A week after waking up and being told by Sirius (_No he's Black now! He's not your friend_!)what had happened, I am finally released from the Hospital Wing. As much as I enjoy Madam Pomfrey's company, she's far nicer than many people think she is, I really need to find my friends. Glancing at my watch, I decide to check the Great Hall, knowing that they'll probably be there more than anything.

My movements are still kind of stiff, but the more I move, the easier movement becomes. When I arrive at the Great Hall, I'm only stiff in my neck and I glance up and down the Gryffindor table, trying to find James, Peter, and Ann. When I find them, I cannot be more surprised.

Ann is sitting next to Black, across from Lily, at the front of the table, closest to the faculty table. And James and Peter are sitting at the exact opposite of the table. Frowning, I walk to the guys and sit next to James.

"Remus! Glad that you're out!" James says, grinning, "Why didn't you tell us you were being released?"

I shrug, "Didn't know when, just that it was sometime today, and I know you gits enough to know you'd try to skip class."

James and Peter grin, "You know us so well."

"Out of curiosity, why isn't Ann sitting with you?"

James glowers, sending a glare at the front of the table, "She's on his side. Says that we didn't listen to the whole story."

"Did you?" I ask with a frown.

"What does it matter? The ending result is still the same!"

I scowl, "Did you ever think that maybe this should just be a problem between him and me?"

James sighs and shakes his head, "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us. Betray one of us, betray the whole. That's what the Marauders are about. The end decision is up to you, as it is you who was effected by this the most, but whatever it is, all of us are following your lead."

"But it's going to kill you and Sirius to be fighting like this," I say, "You're best mates. Brothers. You shouldn't be fighting like this."

"Yeah…well…" James shrugs. And even though he's acting like this isn't bothering him, I can tell that it is. I can tell that it still hurts him to think that Sirius would do that to us, and honestly it isn't just me who he hurt. It's the Marauders on a whole.

~*~Ann's POV~*~

As the weeks and months continue to pass, I watch as Sirius seems to fall in on himself. He keeps getting less and less sleep each night and barely eats anything, which would have seemed impossible before any of this mess happened.

Hearing a ripping sound, I grit my teeth and send a repair charm at his bag while Sirius grabs his things. Scanning the hall, I, as usual, cannot find the culprit. Bloody idiots seem to think that now Sirius and the rest of the Marauders aren't getting along that it's a free for all.

"Come on Ann," Sirius says, "We're going to be late."

I glance at him in faux shock, "Sirius Black worried about being late to transfiguration? Alert the Prophet."

Sirius rolls his eyes and gives a small grin, "I have practice tonight and it's hard enough without having to tell them that I can't show up because I got a detention."

I roll my eyes and huff. There's nothing I can say. Nothing I can do to help him. Lily hangs out with us more often, and she's finding that Sirius really isn't half as bad as she thought he is. While this is normally a good thing, it doesn't help Sirius too much. Especially now that his family keeps owling him for some unknown reason, though I would guess that they want to kill or seriously maim him if the curses and other traps that await within the mail are to go by. Bloody nutters, the whole lot of them.

"Bloody gits, maybe I can send some cursed mail back," I mutter.

"What's that?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing, just thinking to myself," I say, giving Sirius a smile. For some odd reason, he doesn't want any action taken against his family. Would much rather let them wear themselves out I guess.

Once we're all seated in McGonagall's class, I glance around the room in between doodling on my paper and jotting down the few notes that I need. Remus, quiet, studious, won't-not-take-notes-because-you-never-know-if-you'll-need-them Remus, is staring down at his parchment with the most forlorn look on his face. Glancing at McG, I cast the spell at my parchment to connect it to his and write.

_Hey Remmy, why so blue?_

_**Ann! It's the middle of McGonagall's class, are you suicidal!**_

_No, I'm a Gryffindor._

I hear a thunk as though someone just hit their head on a desk and have to muffle my laughter.

_Now Moony, you don't want to do that. You'll lose that wonderful brain of yours._

_**Yeah, well maybe if I did I wouldn't be so miserable.**_

_Anything I can do to help?_

_**Don't think so. Not this time at least.**_

I bite my lip, thinking, before I feel a grin appear on my face.

_All right, well if you're sure. Let me know if you need anything._

_**Will do. Thanks.**_

I cancel the spell to Remus's parchment and then make it attach onto Lily's.

_Hey Lily…I have a question._

_Ann, you are insane! Sending notes in Professor McGonagall's class!_

_ I am not. Besides, I have some very important things to discuss with you._

_Like what?_

_ Like wondering if you want to get the idiotic blokes back together or not?_

_And make it so that they can cause pranks and mass chaos around the school? Are you nuts?_

_ Actually, I was thinking so that they could be happy again._

There's a long pause in her reply and I bite my lip, wondering if she'd ever agree with my idea. It's not exactly in her nature, but I think that she would be willing to do it, especially knowing that it would help her friends to be happy again.

_What are we going to do?_

~*~AG~*~

I smile as Lily and Marlene come up into the common room. We've already warned the other two girls not to come to the dorm tonight and they had said they were staying with their boyfriends. Once they're in, I ward the room against people from eavesdropping, and go through the usual routine whenever planning something.

"All right ladies, we have some Marauders to put back together," I say, letting a smirk cross my face. The other two give grins as well. This is going to be fun.

**AN/ I know this is a short chapter, but more will come soon. Like tomorrow. Anyway, it might seem like I've glossed over the months where the Marauders weren't talking, but honestly, who likes to see the boys fight? I'll probably add flashback scenes that will show bits a pieces of what happened, but overall I'm leaving it alone. Oh, and they are now in January, so there won't be a Christmas chapter or anything like that, though Ann and Sirius are now 17 (Yay!) and Lily, who according to HP-Lexicon(great site if you don't have the books) was born on January 30th, 1960, will be turning 17 soon.**


	17. Of Three Contenders

~*+)o(+*~MWPP~*+)o(+*~

James, Peter and Remus walk into the Great Hall, talking amongst themselves about a prank that they wanted to pull. The only problem was that they couldn't figure out how to get all the different elements of said prank to work together. It was even more annoying for Remus, who is normally able to figure out how to fix these problems easily.

Sirius, Ann, and Lily are all ready sitting at their usual end of the table, talking about the potions homework they had had the night before. Or rather, Ann and Lily are discussing it with Sirius adding in his two knuts worth in between working on his crossword.

As students filed into the hall, the last stragglers dashing in to grab a bite, the doors to the Great Hall close of their own accord. Curious, all students look up at the doors, wondering if this was something that the teachers were doing or if someone worse, such as the Marauders, were behind it.

And that's when it all started. The bowls and plates grew arms and legs and started juggling various utensils. The goblets began to stack themselves into pyramids and were singing the Hogwarts school song in a strange sort of acapella. The tables moved from the center of the room and, after the floor space was clear, the suits of armor began to dance a ballet.

"POTTER!" Lily yells, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

"It's not us!" James shouts back, gripping his seat so that he didn't fall off, for the seats had begun to sway back and forth in time to the music.

Sparkles and glitter began to fall from the ceiling, decorating the students and teachers in the house color opposite of what they were placed in. Ann glares at the green sparkles on her shoulder, and tries to brush it off, but when she does so, her skin begins to take on the same colour as the sparkles and she stops.

"Bloody hell James, this has you written all over it," Ann snaps, "Tell us how to reverse the spells and let us get on with the day!"

"Why don't you ask Black?"

"Because I don't know!" Sirius and Regulus shout at the same time, then glance at each other in confusion before giving small grins.

After the ballet finished, all the suits raised their weapons above their heads, causing all members of the great hall to glance up. Writing appeared in bright violet coloring.

_'We are glad you like our show, but here's a quick little warning. The fun doesn't end here. To any who wish to oppose us, namely a group of boisterous blokes, we've one thing to say. Bring it on.'_

Lily glares at the message, furious, before turning her green eyed glare at James, Remus, and Peter.

"If any one of you even attempts to give a prank back, Merlin help me, I will make your lives a nightmare," Lily growls, "Understand?"

The three boys nod quickly, knowing from past experiences that Lily is quite good with her word and her wand.

The doors finally pop open and the students are released. The only problem is, when they walk into the hall, they all begin to float, as though gravity has lost its effect within the castle.

Ann grins, "I don't care who did this, but I want them to teach me. This is one wicked charm!"

"So you mean that you don't know a charm that can be used to cause havoc and chaos? Dear me, what has the world done?" Rowan says, floating past.

Ann gives a mock glare at her brother before attempting to get to class, laughing at Lily's mutterings the entire way. Sirius, on the other hand, just shakes his head and pulls out his wand and an old broken quill. He transfigures the quill into a long pole with a hook on the end and uses that to propel himself through the castle. A couple of older students watch in amazement before following his lead.

James, who had thought of the same idea, gives a half scowl half grin, before doing the same. Remus and Peter also follow the dog animagus's lead and are soon about their merry way.

~*+)o(+*~MWPP~*+)o(+*~

That afternoon the sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws exit Transfiguration soaked. Apparently, whoever was causing these mass pranks had decided that they all needed a nice shower, so they had sent rain clouds into the class during the last fifteen minutes. Everyone had tried to run from the room, but the doors had been locked, so the group had been stuck until the bell rang. By that time, the entire room was flooded so much that the desks had started to float, and students and professor alike were beginning to wonder if a bubble head charm would be needed.

"Well, at least the water was warm," Ann says, grabbing her sopping hair and wringing it out as much as possible. Then, almost as if planned, both she and Sirius shake their heads like dogs, spraying the crowd around them with water.

"Grimwood, Black, if either one of you get me any wetter, I'm going to hex you." Lily was not having a good day, so her threat was noted and obeyed.

Meanwhile, a little bit behind them, the three Marauders are muttering about the prank and who could possibly be behind it.

"I'm telling you, Ann is behind this somehow," Remus says.

James shakes his head, "I don't think so. She's not that good. Besides, if she was she wouldn't have turned green from the glitter or wouldn't have been so surprised at the anti-gravity charm."

"And if she was, that means Sirius is behind it as well, and that would spell doom for the school," Peter mutters.

Remus rolls his eyes, "Fine. Let's just pretend for a moment that you're right. Then who would be behind this?"

When the other two don't say anything Remus nods.

"Then I stand behind my original idea."

"Whatever you say," James says, "I still think you're wrong."

Remus doesn't get the chance to respond because at that moment a bunch of third years walk by, depositing sand everywhere and complaining about having the sand in places they never thought possible.

"Now do you think it was Ann? She doesn't know what class the third years came from."

"She doesn't, but Rowan would. Plus, look at what happened to the forth years," Remus says, pointing down the hall.

James almost laughs when he sees the misfortune that had befallen the forth years. All of them had been forced onto brightly coloured stilts and were tottering around the halls. Some of the taller students were forced to duck to avoid hitting low hanging torches or parts of the ceiling. Those who did forget had duck tails and beaks appear on them. The only forth years who seemed to even have the hang of stilt walking were Regulus and Rowan along with a couple of the girls in their year.

"Well that's bollocks for them."

Remus rolls his eyes and smacks James on the back of the head before trying to help some of the forth years, only to end up with a black mask around his face and a raccoon's ringed tail sticking out of the back of his robes.

James and Peter laugh all the way to the Great Hall, Remus grumbling after them.

~*+)o(+*~ MWPP~*+)o(+*~

'No one wants to try to beat us? That's really too bad, because we were hoping for some fun.'

This is the next note which is floating in the Great Hall. Most everyone in the hall sighs in relief, believeing that the band of pranksters were done, but that's when more writing appeared under the note.

'Looks like we'll have to make our own fun, then. Hope everyone enjoys it!'

Remus frowns, investigating the writing, "It looks weird. Like the person couldn't figure out how they wanted to write their message."

"What do you mean?" James asks, looking at the messages.

"Well, look at the word fun in both messages. They're different. And not even a subtle, this word was written a little after the first, but completely by a different hand. And the letters themselves are different too. Some of the y's have loops in the tails and some don't," Remus says, pointing to what he was describing at the time.

The three boys huddle, discussing who may be behind this and what they can do to retaliate.

"I don't care!" Lily says, "When I find out who is doing this they are getting _so_ many points taken from them and I am taking them to their Heads!"

Ann shakes her head, "I think you're over reacting."

"Oh? So why don't you do anything against them?" Lily asks.

"Cause I find them funny."

Lily huffs before continuing to mutter under her breath about the childish things people do. Ann smiles, rolling her eyes and turns to Sirius.

"So what are you thinking?"

"Honestly? I'm a bit out of ideas. It would help if we knew who it was," Sirius says before smirking at me, "You're lucky I really don't think that it's you."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think you'd do anything of this scale by yourself, and you don't work with anyone but the Marauders."

Ann shrugs. A few moments later, all four Marauders are enveloped in bright coloured bubbles. Each of them glances around, trying to figure out what to do. James starts shouting, and though none of the students outside of the bubbles can hear, the other three wince before Sirius and Remus shout something at James and he is startled quiet.

"Well," Ann says, "That was unexpected."

~*+)o(+*~MWPP~*+)o(+*~

Sirius glances around the room that the bubbles had brought them to in interest. There were few parts of the castle that he didn't know, this place being one of them. He guesses that it's in the southern part of the castle since the lake isn't visible, and the Quidditch pitch is to the right, which is west in this case.

"All right, how are we going to get out of here?" Remus asks.

Turning around, Sirius sees the other two shrug and he can't help but shake his head.

"Something wrong Black?" James asks.

Sirius narrows his eyes, "Yes. I've had enough with you calling me Black. It's as though we weren't friends for the past five years. At first, I'll admit, I deserved it. I deserved everything. But now, you can stop with the 'Black' nonsense and try to figure out why we're stuck here."

James blinks in surprise. It had been a while since Sirius fought back, and to hear him do so is a good surprise. James glances at Remus. Remus sighs and nods. James turns back to Sirius and gives a grin. Sirius smirks and punches James on the cheek.

"That's for picking a fight with Ann," Sirius says, smirking.

James rubs his cheek, grinning, "I think she's taught you a thing or two about throwing a punch."

"Whatever Prongsie."

"Prongsie? I think I might prefer Jamesie."

"As much as I hate to break up this lovely reunion, what are we going to do about the pranksters?" Remus asks.

"We've got to get back at them," Peter says, "They just insulted us by bubbling us up here."

James nods, "They've been insulting us all morning. You have any idea who it is?"

"Not a clue," Sirius says, "Whoever it is, they're careful. They use a mixture of handwritings in their messages. And not just their own. I recognised a few of my 'a's and some of Remus's writing as well."

Remus paces, muttering under his breath, "I still say Ann has something to do with it."

"We've been over this Moony, her reactions are too genuine for it to be her," James huffs.

"Plus, Sirius hasn't helped," Peter says.

Sirius raises an eyebrow, "Why would I?"

The other three just look at him and he raises his hands in an 'I surrender' pose, grinning the entire time. It's nice to have, at the least, a truce with them. I know that there's going to be a bit of trouble until we hit that level of trust that we'd had before, but I think we can manage it. All we need is some time and the chance to act like the Marauders again.

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

I snicker as Lily and Marlene follow me up to our dorm. The boys, and the entire castle, are confused as to who is causing those pranks. The good thing is, they have, at least temporarily, healed their friendship. Hopefully that will last. Once the three of us are in our dorms, all of us end up on the floor laughing.

"Ah, to see their faces after they were engulfed in those ducks!" Marlene says, barely managing through her laughter, "What made you think of rubber ducks?"

Lily chuckles, "Honestly? It reminded me of Potter's swimming trunks."

I give a bark of laughter, knowing exactly which trunks she was talking about.

"Al-all right. What-what are we going to do next?" I say, stumbling over my words from the chuckles still escaping me.

Marlene gives a wicked grin, "I have an idea…"

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

I pace the floor of our dorms while James aimed spells at the rubber ducks he's throwing out the window. Smirking, I cast a spell and blow up the duck before he does, causing James to glare at me.

"What?"

He rolls his eyes and turns around, continuing to pick off the poor rubber ducks. I turn back to our notes and look them over again. We know the pranks that have been used. The person, or persons, have to be talented in Charms, Potions, Transfiguration, and probably a few other areas. As much as James kept denying it, I know Ann has to be the ultimate force driving this. She's working with others, of course, but now that I think about it, there's no one else who would be able to work these kinds of pranks and not get caught. The only problem I have is trying to figure out who is working with her. I glance at James when he gives a cry of triumph, apparently he hexed three ducks at once, before it hits me. The ducks.

"James, let me see one of those ducks," I say.

James shrugs and tosses one of them to me, "They're just ducks."

I hold one of them, turning it over my hand before giving a squeeze, smiling when it squeaks. "They're not just any ducks." Spinning around, I begin to write on our list, my mind working furiously. James steps behind me and I can hear him muttering under his breath. As I write down the last thing, I can hear him swearing under his breath.

The door opens, and Remus and Peter, who had been in the library getting the needed books for one of the pranks we plan on setting up, enter. They glance at the parchment, and they're eyes go wide when they see what I've written.

**Ann, Marlene and Lily.**

_AN/ Ok, so I really, really, really, really (really) need you all to answer this question. Other than James and Lily, which will start in 7th year, do you want any of the characters to be in a relationship? It's not going to be glaringly obvious, I don't write romance, but it would be there. If so, who do you want shipped together? Send your ideas in a review. Thanks!_


	18. Of A Building Storm

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

I sneak through the halls, being sure to keep to the shadows, and hoping that none of the Marauders will look at the map. The Marauder's Map was finished last year, and is quite the piece of magic. It shows anyone and everyone, no matter what. It was made to show where people who are moving are, even if they're just pacing. It is also able to focus on one person and find them within the castle if you give it the right command.

'_Merlin, please don't let them look at the map!_' I think, entering the transfiguration wing. I pull out the parchment that my wards are written on and levitate them to the rafters, casting sticking charms on the back to keep them in place. Once they were placed, I activated them and began on the charms work. Lily would add to them once I left the area, and then Marlene would come in and do the finishing touches with the potions. I just hope that this will work.

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

As I cast the spells, I wonder if this will actually work. If it does, then this is going to be one hell of a prank. The only problem is that it might really injure some people, so we've kept it away from the stairs, making it so that a person can see where the stairs are and doesn't fall down and break their neck or something.

"Sirius!" James voice sounds from my pocket. I pull out the mirror and smirk, "Yes Prongsie?"

James rolls his eyes, "Have you finished with your hall yet?"

"Just about. I only have a few more feet to do."

James nods, "All right. See you in the commons!"

~*~Ann's POV~*~

The next morning, I feel some anticipation and also some dread. Something telling me to stay in bed. 'Great, now your thoughts are rhyming.' I roll my eyes and finish getting ready, waiting for Lily and Marlene. When they're finally ready, we exit the tower, chatting about the Hogsmead trip coming up. Of course, it's the Valentine's day one, so a lot of the other girls are giggly, but I have rather…darker feelings toward the holiday.

"I'm just saying who wouldn't want to pluck the wings from the little fucker and throw him in a well?" I ask.

Marlene huffs, "You're just not a romantic. And while I don't agree with a baby in a diaper with arrows shooting people-"

"A cherub," Lily corrects.

"Exactly. I don't think that's too awesome, but I like the idea of the day over all."

I roll my eyes, turning the corner and stop dead. The entire hall is made up of mirrors.

"What-"

"the-"

"hell?"

"Hello ladies!" Sirius calls from behind us. I turn around, my eyebrows raised, and a grin on my face.

"I see you blokes have been busy."

Remus grins as he walks up, "Just a little bit."

I roll my eyes and continue toward where I know the stairs are. Counting the steps in my head, I manage to make it to the Great Hall without any troubles. When I glance behind me, I notice that the others are missing, shrug and go to the Gryffindor table. Regulus and Rowan sit across from me and look at me expectantly.

"What?"

"We just want to know how you did it," Regulus says.

"Well, I didn't do it, so you're going to have to ask Sirius and that group when they get here," I say, "Though I find it sad that they can't find their way through their own prank."

"They can't?"

"They were right behind me when we first encountered the mirrored halls. I don't think they trusted me to navigate."

Rowan chuckles, "They should know better. After all the times that father had all of us go through mazes…."

I laugh, nodding in agreement.

"What do you mean by that?" Regulus asks.

"Our father is nearly as paranoid as yours. He had us learn how to navigate in an area where we couldn't see and had us walk through it continuously until we were able to make it out from counting the steps and remembering the turns," I explain.

Regulus nods, "That's useful."

Rowan and I nod, "Definitely."

"See? I told you it was the second right!" Sirius's voice travels to us through the doors.

"If we'd just followed Remus we wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place," Peter says.

"You all are idiots."

"Oh, you love us Evans and you know it."

"Bugger off Potter."

I chuckle, "And they have arrived!"

Rowan and Regulus laugh, watching as the group enters the Hall. The Marauders, Lily, and Marlene come and sit around the three of us. Sirius, surprisingly, sits across from Regulus. The group starts to eat their breakfast, chatting about various things. When a good amount of the students are in the hall, a thick cloud of smoke appears in the center of the room. When the smoke clears, the room has a perfect view of a large box with a handle. The handle starts to turn, bringing out a tinkering song. The hall seems confused, except for the muggle borns, and those who have taken Muggle Studies. Those people are backing away slowly. A loud 'Click!' sounds, scaring a good three quarters of the school. They relax, laughing, thinking that it was over.

The sound of many keys of a piano being hit sounds, and a large clown pops out of the top of the box. It starts to laugh before turning its head to look at each table.

"You set the challenge, consider it accepted!" the clown says before disappearing in a burst of smoke, confetti, and glitter.

My eyes catch the other girls' and I give a subtle nod. When they both nod back, I have to hide a smirk. Let the war begin.

~*~AG~*~

"AND FURTHER MORE DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH YOUR ACTIONS COMPLETELY UNDERMINDED THE ENTIRE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE SET UP HERE? YOUR _PRANKS_ HAVE CAUSED HALF THE THIRD YEARS TO END UP IN THE HOSPITAL WINGS SO THEY CAN HAVE THEIR FAIRY WINGS REMOVED!"

I zone out of McGonagall's yelling. My feet are cold and I shift back and forth for a moment. I'd gone to make a last minute adjustment to a prank, and hadn't even changed from my pajamas. Lily and Marlene had heard me and decided to come with me. Apparently the Marauders had been setting something up as well and Peter had forgotten the map while James had forgotten the cloak. McGonagall has been going at it for the last fifteen minutes. I hear her cough slightly and she takes a sip of tea.

"Now," McGonagall says, her voice back to a normal level, "I am extremely disappointed in the seven of you! Never have we had almost an entire year group of a single house in so much trouble. I have never seen so many students out at once! Miss Evans, Mister Lupin, you are prefects, I expected more from you!"

I clear my throat, "Umm…McGonagall, it's not their fault."

Her sharp gaze turns to me, "Miss Grimwood?"

"Well, I know it's not Lily's fault at least. I'd convinced her and Marlene to help me," I say. I shift back and forth again, feeling a draft on my legs, bloody shorts.

"And it's not Remus's fault either," Sirius says, "I convinced him and James and Peter to help as well."

McGonagall frowns, "Very well. Twenty five points from Misters Potter, Pettigrew, and Lupin as well as from Misses Evans and McKinnon. You five also have detention for a week with me starting tomorrow. You may go."

"What-what about Ann and Sirius, Professor?" Lily asks.

I give her a look to shut up, but she barely spares me a glance.

"I will send them along when I'm done with them."

The five nod and leave the office. Turning my attention back to McGonagall, I have to avoid ducking from the look she's giving the both of us.

"I want you to explain yourselves right now before I take off more points and give you more detentions than you have had in your entire school experience!" she says, eyes flashing. Clearly McGonagall doesn't enjoy being woken up to find seven of her lions roaming the castle at night.

Sirius has a few false starts while I battle myself.

"Well you see-" he says

"I started it!" I blurt out. Almost immediately, I look down, my fringe falling in my face. "I was sick of the boys fighting. I knew that they were just looking for a reason to apologise to each other, regardless of what they said in public. So I convinced Lily and Marlene to help me get them back together, not so that they would cause chaos, but so that they could be happy again."

McGonagall's eyes flash for a moment before she nods, "Very well. Mister Black, Miss Grimwood, you both have fifty points deducted from you and a weeks worth of detention to be served with me starting tomorrow. Dismissed."

I nod and turn on my heel, leaving the room. I can hear Sirius behind me and adjust my strides accordingly.

"Why did you take all the blame?" Sirius asks.

"Because it's the truth."

"But- we responded without much prompting."

I raise an eyebrow at him, "You want me to tell McGonagall that you've changed your mind and you want more punishment?"

Sirius shakes his head, and the two of us walk in silence for a while before I hear Sirius chuckle.

"So what made you forget your robe?" he asks, glancing at my pajamas.

I roll my eyes, pulling on my shirt, "I was in a hurry and thought that I'd be back in my bed in five minutes. I didn't expect Lily and Marlene to follow."

Sirius laughs, calling out the password for the tower. We climb in and head toward the dorms. I start up to the girls dorm when Sirius calls my name.

"Yeah?" I ask.

He rubs the back of his neck, "Thanks. For getting my mates to talk to me again."

I smile, "Anytime Pads."

He grins back and we head up to our beds.

~*~AG~*~

I pull on my cloak and smile. The April rain will stop a lot of people from going to Hogsmead, and all I want is some time to be by myself. Some time to think. Though, that probably isn't the best idea right now. With the chaos Voldemort on the spread, it's only time until it's declared as an actual war. Providing that the ministry decides to act. They seem to be rather determined to sweep this under the rug.

Frowning, I pull on my gloves, flexing the fingers, and pull up the hood of my cloak. I exit the castle and pass by the carriages, not in the mood to ride to the village. As I walk to the village, my thoughts travel to the impending war again. Regardless of what people say, there is going to be war. There is going to be fighting. The teachers keep trying to keep the students calm, saying that it won't affect us at the castle. While the castle may not be attacked, there is no guarantee that we will not be affected. In fact, it is highly likely that there will be something that happens. The train, Diagon Alley, the platform, Hogsmead, and all other places that students gather that could be attacked. All of these places could bring war to the front gate of the students of Hogwarts.

"And we all go falling down," I mutter. I walk to the Hogs Head and enter the pub. It may be one of the dirtier places, but it is one of the best places to go if you don't want to be bothered by other students. Most of them think that it's out of bounds, or they just avoid the place.

I order some ale and sit at a corner table. Pulling out some parchment and a self-inking quill, I begin to work on some warding schematics I'd been working on for a while. There was only one real weak point and I have been having problems figuring out how to get rid of that point. I make a few marks then scratch them out.

'_That's not it you fool. Come on, think about it_,' I wave away my thoughts and look out the window. The rain continues to fall, and I can't help but notice that, as I believed, the village is practically deserted of students. That's when a flash of black catches my eye. I exit the pub and follow it, hearing the shouts and using them to help me find the commotion.

"Stop! Stop it, leave me alone!"

"You shouldn't have messed with us!"

"You're going to learn your lesson right now."

"Stop! Ow! Help!"

My eyes narrow and I take off at a run, turning a corner and running toward the small group of people at the end of the alley.

'_Five people standing, one on the ground. Three with wands out, two in the back pockets. Fifth year and older. Kid on ground is a forth year. Estimated need of wand, low._' I smirk. This is going to be fun.

Before they can react, I've managed to knock their wands from their hands and get between them and the kid. Smirking, I hold up their wands.

"Lose something?" I ask.

The boys glare, "Give us back our wands."

"Yeah, don't think so. You see, I don't like that you all were beating up this kid. Not fair odds."

"So now you're going to fight us on your own?"

"Yes, these odds are much better."

The boys laugh before starting to attack. I smile as I block their attacks, or use their momentum against them to throw them into walls. I start to laugh during the fight. It excites me. This is what I thrive on.

~*~AG~*~

"And you promise you'll write?" Lily asks for the fiftieth time.

I smile, rolling my eyes, "Yes, I promise."

She nods, "Good. I'll see you next year Ann!"

"Absolutely." I wave as she leaves with her family.

Rowan sighs, "How much longer do we have to wait until they come and pick us up?"

Frowning, I finally place charms on our trunks and place them in my pocket, "Grab a hold of my arm, I'll take us home."

"But father hasn't added you to the wards."

"Whoever said we're apperating into the house?" Rowan grabs my arm and I twist, thinking about the small corner of our yard where visitors were told to apperate. Once we've landed, I ruffle Rowan's hair. He's nearly as tall as I am, but I think he's only going to gain a couple of inches and then stop growing. He'll probably be the same height as me or a little taller.

"I forgot about this corner."

"So did our parents," I say, noting the dilapidated look of the space, "I'll have one of the house elves fix this up. It's no good to have the first thing visitors see be so run down."

Rowan nods and we walk up the path to the door. I unlock and open it, entering before Rowan because one never knows what sort of madness that can come about in this place. Luck is with us in that none of the other occupants of the house are here.

"Mother? Father?" Rowan calls, when no one responds, he smiles at me, "No one's here."

"Really, you think? Did you forget about the charm on that door that rings when guests arrive?" I drawl.

Rowan blushes, "Oh yeah."

Chuckling, I walk through the halls, lighting the gas lamps and other sources of light. I grab one of the triple armed candle holders, light it and walk through the halls, trying to see if anything is wrong. The house is entirely too quiet for my liking. When I can't find anything wrong, I travel to the kitchen, lighting the entire room and get to work at cooking dinner.

"Mmmm! Smells good!" Rowan says, walking in, "What are you cooking?"

"Red Salmon with a hollandaise sauce, asparagus sprinkled with sea salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar, and red potatoes with pepper and olive oil," I say, whisking the eggs for the hollandaise, "For dessert we will have an apple tart."

"Sounds wonderful. Anything I can do to help?"

"Wash the potatoes and start to cube them. Be sure not to make them too small or they'll have to be mashed."

I send a spell to open the windows and drapes, bringing even more light into the room. I huff slightly when my fringe falls into my face and let out a puff of air to get it away.

~*~AG~*~

"Come on Annalisa, you can do better!" father says.

My eyes narrow before I smirk, "Do you really want to see what I can do?"

"That's what I have been waiting for."

"You asked for it," I mutter. Placing my wand in its holder for a few moments, I grab my special throwing knives and throw them into the ground around where father is standing. "_Exsilio_!"

A purple and black shield appears, springing up from the knives and circling, connecting at each point and forming a dome at the top. And even though I cannot see it, I know that there's a similar dome under the ground. I smile, dropping from where I'd been hanging on the chandelier in the training room. Walking toward where my father is, I smile as he sends every spell he can at the walls of his cage and nothing happens. The walls get stronger with each hit, and I grin even more.

"Problems?" I ask.

"What is this?" he asks.

I shrug, "Just a ward system that I set up. It took me pretty much all of the school year to figure it out, more than that to figure out how to make it work if I placed it on knives. All of the variables. What metal to use, how to activate them, how strong they will be. It probably won't hold someone like Dumbledore or Voldemort, but it will hold the average wizard well enough."

"And can I not just summon one of the knives, bringing the wards down?"

"Try it and find out what happens."

I smile as he summons one of the blades. A flash of purple flies through the dome, causing father to duck. The tail end of his robes gets cut off by the light, and he blinks in shock at the sight.

"Pretty nifty huh?" I smile.

"I am surprised Annalisa, I never thought you possible of something like this," father says.

I smile and turn around, walking toward the door of the training area.

"Annalisa, where are you going? Our training isn't done yet," father says.

I stop. Turning my head, I look at him over my shoulder, "You're right. But wasn't it you who said that everyone has to learn to live without food or human contact?"

"What about water?"

I smirk, "You have a wand. Use it."

~*~AG~*~

_Lily,_

_See, I'm writing you like promised. So, how has your summer been so far? I'll admit mine was halfway decent until I decided to do something stupid. But we're not going to get into that. I think I'm going to go mad here. Oh, have you heard from Sirius? And don't pretend that you've gone back to hating him, once you're friends with Sirius, it's impossible to hate him again. I don't know why, I think it has to do with how puppy like he can be. Anyway, send me a letter, it'll be a nice break in the monotony._

_Ann_

_Ann,_

_It's good to hear from you! Yes, I'm still being friendly with Sirius, why would I stop? He warned me though, that it might be a while for you to write. My summer has been fantastic so far! My mum and dad are going to take us to France for the summer! And what did you do that was so stupid? Ann, please tell me that you didn't get into too much trouble. How can you go mad, though? I thought that you already were._

_Lily_

I smile at Lily's letter and start to work on my return letter, when I hear some commotion from the main part of the house. Rolling my eyes, I climb the stairs and try to find the source of the disturbance. When I arrive in the lounge, I find that the six other Lords have gathered. I frown before stepping into the room.

"Might I inquire as to why you all are here?" My voice seems to bring them out of their argument, and they turn to me with murderous looks. I merely raise an eyebrow and wait for their response.

"Annalisa Grimwood, go find your father and bring him here at once," Lord Black instructs.

"My sincerest apologise Lord Black, but Lord Grimwood is not within the residence at this time. Is there anything else which I may assist you with?" I know my tone shows the contempt I feel for the man, and I know he can hear it, but I really don't care. He tried to kill Sirius, he's lucky I don't try to kill him.

"Are you aware when he will return?"

I glance at the clock, "Within the hour."

"Very well, we shall await him here."

"As you wish. I shall have some tea sent in by the house elf." I bow and exit the room. Something is going on. Something that has them concerned.

**AN/ Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I love hearing from my readers. Funny enough, I have a whole bunch of ideas typed up for seventh year, now it's just a matter of figuring out which pieces to put together and use.**


	19. Of First Encounters

**Ministry Declares State of War**

**By Vanessa Hitchcock**

**The ministry has finally decided to declare a state of war. Since the wizard known as Lord Voldemort has started to work against the country, it is our duty to stand with our ministry and protect our country from this rogue element. As such, the ministry shall be working toward victory against this menace. Their victory relies upon the cooperation and support of the magical community.**

**Though times ahead are dark, it is with the light of justice that we shall prevail against this threat. It is through hard work that we shall stop this tyrant of terror. As such, it is asked of the magical community to keep an eye upon everything around you. If you see something suspicious, fire call the Aurors and alert them to the problem. Do not attempt to deal with it on your own. The wizards sided with Lord Voldemort are powerful and have been proven to have no care for mercy.**

**With this state of war, the ministry has decided to allow some war-time laws to take place. These laws are in place for your protection and to bring this war to an end as soon as possible.**

**-The ministry is able to bring anyone accused of suspicious behavior in for questioning at any time.**

**-Anyone found with a dark object on their person or property shall be brought in for questioning immediately. **

**-If a person has ten claims of suspicious behavior placed against them from ten reputable sources, they shall be brought to the ministry for a hearing as to the reason of said behavior.**

I fold the paper and sigh, tapping my finger on the article. This could mean problems later on. It's good that they have begun to take action against Voldemort, about damn time too, considering all the warning signs that have been taking place for years now. However, if the ministry continues like this, they will spread panic, which will bring about chaos, and that is exactly what Voldemort wants.

"Ann! Come on, we're going to Diagon Alley!" Rowan says.

I nod, "I'm coming. Merlin, you're impatient aren't you?"

Rowan laughs, "I just want to get out of this house!"

Smiling, I lead him into the drawing room, bowing as I enter, "Mother, father, if it pleases you, Rowan and I shall be going to Diagon Alley to gather our supplies."

Father glances up from his paper. He's reading the same article I had been, and I can see the thoughts swirling around his mind. Since that day in the training room, father has been hesitant. It's as though he saw something that day, and in the days following, that changed his perspective of me.

"Very well," father says, "Be cautious of how you act within the public eye though. We do not have the time to have the ministry dogs sniffing at our feet."

"Yes father." I bow and exit. Grabbing my cloak, I wait for Rowan to finish fiddling with his before grabbing his arm and apperating away to the Alley. Upon landing though, it takes me a moment to be sure that we've gone to the correct place.

The Alley is practically empty. The few people who are out are moving quickly, darting amongst the stores. Though none of the shops have closed, it is entirely too soon for that to have happened, it is apparent for anyone observant enough that the owners are not pleased. Ministry pamphlets are posted everywhere. They include tips on defending one's home and listings of the laws. The peddlers have already begun to bring out useless trinkets. Amulets and other assorted goods that should protect you from the hardships and troubles of war.

"What happened?" Rowan asks, his eyes wide and mouth a gape.

I frown and glance around, "I guess people are taking the declaration of a state of war seriously. This is going to effect the economy horribly."

"Is that all you can think of at this moment?"

"What else is there to comment on? Everything else is known."

The trip to Gringotts and the other stores is quick. We're about to leave when I hear someone call my name. Glancing over my shoulder, I see Lily running toward us and place a hand on Rowan's shoulder.

"Lily, how are you?" I ask when she's within speaking distance.

"Good! It's wonderful to see you!" she says, hugging me tightly. She's one of the few people who I allow to hug me.

"Good to see you too," I say, "Have you done your shopping?"

"Yes, it's sad to see everything so…empty."

I nod, "True, though we shouldn't stay here. If we gather in one place someone might think it suspicious and report us. And that would just cause a whole bunch of headaches that I don't wish to deal with at the present time."

Lily nods and follows Rowan and me into the Leaky Cauldron. I order butterbeer for everyone and return to the corner table we're at. Rowan and Lily are discussing OWLs, which Rowan has to take this year, and I scan the room.

"So what do you think is going to happen now that the ministry has declared a state of war?" Lily asks.

I lean back in my seat, "Hard to say."

"One thing is known for sure though," Rowan says, "Voldemort will be striking more often. He'll be far bolder with his moves as well. With the ministry making moves against him, Voldemort will have little to no choice other than to attack. We all know he isn't going away any time soon. This isn't going to be a quick fight. This is going to take a while."

I nod in agreement and continue scanning the area.

"But," Lily says, "Why would they keep fighting?"

"Because," I say, lowering my voice, "Voldemort is messed up. You've never met him, and I hope to god that you never do. However, that being said, I have. Wait until I'm done, then I'll explain. I can tell you right now, any amount of Dark Magic that could be detected on me is at least ten times worse on him."

"How can anyone live like that?" Lily asks, her voice low.

"They can't," Rowan whispers.

We're quiet for a while until the sound of an explosion rips through the area. Grabbing Lily and Rowan, I start to push them toward the muggle exit of the Leaky Cauldron.

"What's going on?" Lily asks, her eyes wide and worried.

"I don't know!" I snap, "Just get the fuck out of here and into London!"

I glance over my shoulder for a moment, long enough to see people running toward us, people in black robes and white masks following them. I want to go back and fight. I want to attack them. But Rowan and Lily are more important right now. Gritting my teeth, I take the lead, running and calling for them to follow. I don't know if they'll follow us, but knowing how much Voldemort and his followers care about muggle safety, I can guess that they'll follow anyone without question.

A few blocks away, I duck into an alley and place Lily and Rowan behind me, keeping an eye on the street. They duck behind a dumpster and I take a few breaths to slow my heart rate. Straining my ears, I cannot hear anyone following, but know better than to just believe that we're safe without proof.

"Lily, can you apparate?" I ask.

Lily nods, "Yes."

"Excellent, apparate to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, I'll meet you there with Rowan."

"What if they're there?"

I shake my head, "They won't be. Come on."

Grabbing Rowan, I turn and apparate away. Upon arrival, I check the area anyway. Satisfied, I turn to the sound of Lily's entrance, "Can you get home from here?"

Lily nods.

"Ok. Get home safe, we'll see you on the first, alright?"

"Alright. See you on the first." She disapparates.

"Why did you have us apparate here if you were just going to send her home?" Rowan asks.

I frown, "Instinct. Come on, let's get back to the house."

~+~ Sirius POV~+~

I hear the whistle of the train and give a smile. Last year. It's a bitter sweet feeling. By the end of the school year, we all are going to be thrown into the real world. That thought causes me to scowl. Like the real world is anything anyone should be forced into right now. They found the body of a couple of muggle borns hanging between the Gringotts' pillars today. Goblins and wizards alike were furious.

"Sirius, mate, you've got to stop thinking about the war," James says, "You'll end up going crazy. Er…crazier."

Rolling my eyes, I give James a light punch on the shoulder, "Like you're not as crazy as I am."

"No hitting the Head Boy," James says with a smirk.

"I still have no bloody clue how you got that badge," I say, "Thought that Remus was a shoe in for it."

"With all the shenanigans I let you two get into? Nope. Plus, I don't think Professor McGonagall forgot about my parting gift so quickly," Remus says with a grin as he walks up to the other two Marauders.

"Were you the one who had charmed a cat bell around her neck?" James asks. When Remus nods, I smile.

"Our little marauder, all grown up!" I pretend to wipe a tear from my eye. Remus gives me a shove for my efforts, but is laughing.

"One of us had to, you sure as hell won't."

"'Course not. Why would I?"

"I always thought you'd be a Nerverland resident." Lily walks up to the group, giving Remus and me enthusiastic greetings and nodding to James. Remus and I place our hands over our hearts and stare at her in mock horror. She scowls at us, "What?"

"You were civil to James!"

"And? There are more important things these days. I have to find the Head Boy so we can discuss a few things before the meeting on the train," Lily says, glancing at Remus, "Did you get the badge?"

He shakes his head.

"Oh, sorry Remus."

"No worries. I would have been entirely too swamped this year if I was Head Boy."

"Well then who is it?" Lily asks, looking around the platform.

James clears his throat and pulls the badge from his pocket. When Lily sees, her eyes grow wide and her jaw slack. She stares at it until James holds out his hand to her.

"James Potter, seventh year Gryffindor and Head Boy."

Lily laughs, "Lily Evans, seventh year Gryffindor and Head Girl. You all love your formal introductions don't you?"

James shrugs, "It's polite. And we were taught that formal introductions are important Miss Evans."

Lily blinks, nodding, "Shall we discuss the points I have?"

"After you my Lady," James says, motioning for her to take lead. Lily nods and walks toward the prefect's carriage.

"Well Remmy, it's you and me until you have to run off to your meeting. What are we going to do?" I ask.

"Find Ann so that she can babysit you when I'm gone."

"Oi! I take offense to that, you couldn't pay me enough to babysit that mutt." Ann walks up with a smirk.

I raise an eyebrow, "Afraid you can't handle me?"

"No, more like I don't want to deal with hearing you complain about being placed in a dog crate the entire way to Hogwarts."

I roll my eyes, "Can we get a compartment now, or do I have to suffer through more insults?"

~+~SB~+~

I'm working on a sketch of Rowan and Regulus when the train comes to a sudden stop. Ann, who had been walking back in, is thrown into my lap. I chuckle and glance down at her.

"I know you want me, but there are children present."

She rolls her eyes, "Sorry, but I couldn't contain myself any longer. Any ideas on why we stopped?"

I shake my head. Ann climbs past me and sticks half her body out of the window. When she shimmies out more I grab onto her calves.

"Sirius? What are you doing?" she asks, still looking along the track.

"Keeping myself from panicking, now what do you see?"

"The track ahead has disappeared, but it doesn't look like it was blown up or anything. It's just gone," she says, "Step back, I'm coming back in."

Moving away from the window I watch her climb back in and let out a slight sigh of relief once she's safe.

"I'm going to talk with the conductor about what's happening, then see if I can find Lily or James and-" she's cut off by an explosion and the train rocking back and forth on the track, "Bloody hell!"

I growl, "I think we're about to find out why the track is missing."

Ann nods, her wand already in her hand. She's watching the window. A flash of black shows outside of the train and she runs out the into the hall and follows it toward the back of the train.

"Stay in your compartment and get below the windows!" Ann shouts to a couple of third years looking around.

I look at Regulus and Rowan, "Either stay in here below the windows or find some younger students and keep them down. One way or the other, _stay down_!"

After being sure both of them nod, I take off after Ann. I can hear Lily and James giving orders to the front of the train and can hear Remus giving instructions as well. Once I arrive at the end of the train, I notice that the door at the back of the car is open. Stepping out onto the railed platform, I look for a ladder before climbing it, knowing that this is where Ann is. When I get to the roof, I have to duck a spell and take only a moment to assess the situation. Ann is at the front of the car that we're standing on, fighting the five or so Death Eaters.

Springing up, I run up behind her, assisting her shield charm and adding quite a few curses of my own.

"Are you psychotic?" I shout above the sounds of spells and the Death Eaters.

She laughs, "Most likely!"

I can't help but laugh at her response and work with her. We manage to keep a good majority of the, now, eight Death Eaters occupied enough that they leave the train alone. I can't help but think that it's a good thing both of us have had some sort of combat training, otherwise we would both be dead right now.

"We need to get the kids away from here," Ann says, keeping her voice loud enough for me to hear, but soft enough the Death Eaters don't.

"Could we apparate them?"

"Possible."

"Then we need to be able to get back down and tell the others. Why did you come up here anyway?" I ask.

"So that they didn't start attacking the train and the students," Ann says, "I've got a plan, run when I tell you to."

"Right." I don't ask what her plan is. Ann has been trained more for this sort of thing, so I bet she has a couple of ideas that I wouldn't.

"_Umbra proeliator! Suscitatio umbra!"_ Ann waits a moment for the shadows to animate and the warriors to take shape before giving one command, "Attack!"

As her spells attack, she turns around, "Go!"

Turning, I take off at a run, getting to the back of the car and sliding down the ladder and into the platform below, Ann close behind. We manage to find James in the fourth carriage we enter and explain our idea to him. He agrees and says to get started, that he'll explain to the others and takes off at a run. I glance at Ann before running back to the end carriage. I open the first door and nod when I see that it's a bunch of really young looking kids. Probably first years.

"Listen up, I'm only explaining this once, we're going to apparate you out of here," I say, motioning to me and Ann, who had gathered the other kids in the carriage and was cramming them into the compartment on the floor. There are only two other seventh years, and those two stand up by us.

"Don't take more students than your comfortable with, no need to splinch," Ann says, grabbing two of the girls, "Hold onto me tightly, and _do not let go_!"

She turns and disappears. I nod and turn to the seventh years, "Don't leave them alone, always let there be one person in here."

They nod and one guy offers to stay behind the entire time, apparently he's not good at apparition and would not feel comfortable with side along.

I grab a kid and disapparate with him. Unlike Ann, I'm not used to side along apperating with someone, so I figure one for now is safer. Once we arrive in Hogsmead, I let the kid go and push him to the other two before going back to the train. After the compartment is empty, Ann takes the older kid who isn't good with apparition, giving him instructions to alert the teachers about what happened.

When I get in the next car, I feel the train shake again and curse. I guess Ann's spells either aren't working anymore or the Death Eaters are done with them already. Grabbing the first little kid I see, I tell them not to let go and disapparate. I can only hope that we get them all out in time, because as the train blinks away, I hear a Death Eater shouting that back up is on the way.

-^- McGonagall's POV-^-

As I'm walking along the grounds, I hear someone shouting. Turning to the noise, I see Edgar Bones running toward me. He looks slightly disheveled, but I'm more concerned about what he's doing here before the train.

"Professor! Problem-train-Death Eaters-attack-track-gone!" he gasps.

My eyes widen, "Where were they at?"

"By the red barn and the river!" Bones says.

"Alert Professor Dumbledore at once. You know where the office is, the password is 'Bubble pop'," I say. A moment later I'm running to the gate and disapparate once past the wards. No one messes with my students!

I arrive on the top of the front carriage and snarl at the sight of the Death Eaters. The few closest to me notice my arrival and start to attack, which is fine with me. My wand flashes in front of me as I cast shield charms and other spells to counter attack. I hear a small pop next to me and can hear Filius's voice as he starts to battle alongside me.

"I take it you found young Mister Bones before he got to the Headmaster's office?" I ask.

"Yes. It took me probably a few moments longer than you to run for the wards."

"I am a Gryffindor."

Filius chuckles, "Always running along head first."

I can hear an almost crack of apparition below us, and I want to investigate, but there are more important matters at hand. The Death Eaters, who had numbered somewhere at ten when I arrived, were slowly multiplying. I hear someone yell in the train, but cannot identify the voice. That yell is followed by another after a moment, and another after that. When a blast of green light flies over my shoulder, I shake my head and focus on the problem in front of me.

A few moments later, I hear an unmistakable voice yell, "Hello Death Munchies! Miss me?"

"You mean miss us, right?" another unmistakable voice yells, "After all, how could the Munchers forget a face like this?"

I can hear a few of the Death Eaters yell in fury, but soon half of the group is focused on Filius and me, and the other half on Mister Black and Miss Grimwood. I'm focusing on keeping the group in front of me distracted when they hear yells of agony coming from their comrades behind them, they turn, trying to see the source of the noise, and I stun them. Binding them, I help Filius in getting the five attacking him back. A crack of apparition breaks the sound of battle, and there's a flash of violet robes.

Smiling, because I know of only one person who wears robes that violently violet, I manage to stun and bind a couple more Death Eaters. The others who notice Albus's arrival promptly disappear, only managing to grab a couple of their fallen fellows.

I immediately run to my students, looking them over for any injuries. Other than a couple of nasty looking cuts, they both look all right.

"Hello McGonagall," Grimwood says, "Come to have some fun?"

"I assure you Miss Grimwood, fun was the last thing on my mind. Are the both of you ok?" I ask. I'm pretty sure that I already know the answer, but better to ask than to assume.

Mister Black nods, "I think we're both just _really_ tired."

"I expect that will be the situation of most of the seventh years," Albus says, "Do you think you can manage to get to Hogsmead at the least?"

Both seventh years nod.

"Very well. Minerva, Filius, please escort Mister Black and Miss Grimwood up to the school. I will see if I can correct the problem with our tracks," Albus says.

I nod and turn to the two teens, "Would you prefer to side along?"

Both shake their head and turn, disappearing with soft cracks. I follow them, arriving a second after them. Miss Grimwood gives a stumble and Mister Black manages to catch her. She nods at him and manages to keep her feet afterward.

"Sirius! Ann!"

I watch as Misters Lupin and Potter and Miss Evans run to the two teens and seem to check over them before giving each of them a hug.

"Let's get up to the castle, eh?" Grimwood mutters. The others nod and they start to slowly walk up to the castle in what seems like a comfortable silence.

I smile at the scene and follow my lions up to the castle, keeping a light conversation with Filius. Once at the castle, the five try to go into the Great Hall, but I shake my head and point up the stairs. Mister Potter understands and directs the others to go ahead while calling over one of the sixth year prefects, giving him instructions to pass along to the others. After telling the sixth year what to do he catches up with his friends, all of whom had waited at the top of the stairs.

After they are in the hospital wing, I keep a watch over them from a corner. As much as I deny it, as much as I yell at them, they really are my favorites. I sigh, hoping that they'll be able to make it through this upcoming war.


	20. Of Dots

~*~Ann's POV~*~

I groan as I wake up. I still feel exhausted. Even with the remarkably good sleep I managed, no nightmares for once, I feel as though I could sleep another few hours. I glance down at the white cotton sleep clothes provided by the matron and chuckle. I slide from my bed and change back into my clothing that I had been wearing when the Death Eaters attacked. After folding the clothing that I'd slept in and making the bed, I pull back the curtains and stretch, feeling the wonderful pull of my muscles and the popping of my joints.

"Miss Grimwood, you should have waited for me to examine you before getting out of bed," Madam Pomfrey says, walking over.

I smile, "Sorry Madam, but I can't sit still for too long."

"You and every other student in this castle," Madam Pomfrey says. "At least allow me to run a diagnostics charm on you."

I nod and feel the tickle of the charm a moment later. She frowns at me.

"You seem to have a lot of residual Dark Magic on you," she says.

"I'd be surprised if there wasn't," I say, giving a shrug, "It's ok, just leave it."

She frowns, but nods. Walking down toward another bed, I can hear her chastising another one of her beloved patients. I grab my boots, shove my feet in, and lace them up. The door of the hospital wing opens and I glance up, just to grin at the person walking in.

"What do you need kiddo?" I ask.

Rowan scowls, "I'm not some kid anymore. I wanted to make sure that you're alright, but seeing as that you're already dressed, I'm going to assume you're fine."

I nod once, "Do you not have a class right now?"

"Classes have been canceled so that the first years can be sorted. Plus, Dumbledore wants you seventh years to have a day to recover. He expects a lot of you to be at least partially exhausted. I imagine you five are the worse off of the lot though," Rowan says.

"That's because we're bloody spectacular," Sirius says as he walks out of his curtained off area. He runs a hand through his hair and grins before shaking like a dog.

I raise an eyebrow, "Fleas?"

"Merlin no, just trying to make sure my hair is in place."

"Pansy."

"Butch."

"Poof."

"Git. I can't believe you went for that this early on."

"Not in the mood right now. Feel like sleeping."

"As much as I hate to interrupt this," Rowan says, "We should head for the Great Hall so we can watch the sorting."

I shrug, "Fine by me."

"Whatever. It's not like it matters that much anyway. The poor shrimps must still be terrified," Sirius mutters.

I knock his arm with my shoulder and raise an eyebrow at him. He shrugs and interlaces his fingers behind his head, watching the ceiling as we walk along. Arriving in the Great Hall, I notice that Sirius and I are the only students not in uniform. Deciding not to care, I grab an apple from the bowl on the table and take a bite as we sit down. Regulus, who had been waiting at the end of Slytherin table, immediately walks over.

That had surprised Sirius the most. Regulus had been upset with him when he had left in fifth year. In fact he had ignored Sirius for the rest of that year and then for the first little bit of sixth until the Marauders started ignoring Sirius. After that, the brothers had somehow managed to put aside time to talk. I'd bet anything that Rowan had convinced Regulus that he needed to talk with Sirius. Rowan had seen the lengths Sirius went to protecting Regulus, even when the Black brothers weren't talking, and that had convinced him that Sirius really did love his brother. After that, it only took Sirius a little bit of time until he had convinced Regulus to start meeting him regularly to talk.

"Ann? Hello? Are you going to keep spacing out on us?" Rowan asks.

"Only if you keep annoying me."

"I'm not annoying! Regulus, am I annoying?"

"Like a dog."

"Oi! I take offense to that!"

"Why would you?"

"Because Sirius is a moronic git."

"No, arsehole, it's because Sirius is the alpha in the Canis Major constellation."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Apparently that makes Sirius think he has a connection with dogs," Regulus says, a smirk on his face.

Sirius glowers, "At least I don't have an affinity for cats."

"What's wrong with cats?"

"They're evil."

"I like them."

"My point proven."

I sigh, hitting all three of them in the forehead with a grape, "Stop your tongue wagging, Dumbledore's going to talk and it looks like it's important."

Dumbledore motions for the students to quiet down before speaking, "First, thank you to the seventh years who assisted in yesterday's trouble. As such, I would like to award each house one hundred points." The counters all fill with various gems, "Also, I would like to commend all of you for doing what was needed to keep each other safe. However, until further notice, the Hogsmead visits have been restricted to special occasions only." Many people groan here, "It is unsafe to have visits once a month and as such a schedule with appropriate dates will be posted in all the commons. Now more than ever it is imperative for the students to follow the rules, prefects, Head Boy and Girl, and the teachers. We are here to help you and protect you. Therefore, it should be noted that none are to go into the forbidden forest and that all students should be in their dorms at their appointed times."

I nod, all of this is expected.

"I would also like to inform you that there is a new club available to all Hogwarts students. As of this year, we are opening a Dueling Club. It will be divided into two groups and meeting times according to year. Fifth years and above will be in one section, fourth year and below in another. The club is to be headed by the Heads of Houses. I encourage all students to join for at least one meeting." Dumbledore looks around the hall, "In light of the times we find ourselves in I also implore you to band together as a school. It does not matter your house or year, what matters is that you all are students at this school. What matters is that everyone is going to be affected by the current state of our world."

With that, Dumbledore steps down and sits at his chair. I tap my fingers on the table.

"I can't believe that they're finally starting a dueling club!" Rowan says, "So do you all think you're going to go?"

Regulus nods, "The more practice the better."

"I don't know if I'll go all the time, but I'll drop in once at least," Sirius says.

I finally become aware that they're all staring at me, waiting for my answer, "I don't think so. It's not prudent for me to attend, so I probably will not. I have other things that I am working on this year."

"Why not? You're an awesome duelist," Rowan says.

Sirius shakes his head, "I understand what she's saying. Everyone there, excepting the teachers, are going to be far below her level. Doesn't make sense for her to necessarily attend. Though I think it would be a good idea to show some of the students how good they could become."

I shrug, "We'll just have to wait and see."

~*~AG~*~

Remus and I are walking down the hall when out of nowhere this black, white and red blur runs past before doubling back to stand in front of us for a moment before running around in circles.

Turning to Remus, I raise an eyebrow, "Ok, what have I missed?"

"Dunno," Remus shrugs, before aiming a tripping hex at where the blur is going to be. The person sprawls on the floor, vibrating from unused energy. Walking over carefully, Remus pokes Sirius in the side with his foot. Sirius jumps up and is still vibrating.

"HeyRemus!HeyAnn!'dbeenchasing?" Sirius says, without taking a breath.

"Woah, woah," Remus holds up his hands, "Who gave you the sugar?"

"IthinkitwasJames,butIreallycan'!" Sirius rambles.

"Riiight…Let's start back at the beginning. WHO gave you the sugar?"

Sirius pauses for a moment in his rambling to stare at Remus. When it seems like that's all he's going to do, he says, "James" and then is off rambling again.

I see Remus's eye twitch. "I'm going to go kill James," Remus says, turning around and walking in the direction he knows James should be.

"Fine! Leave me to deal with a hyper Sirius!" I shout after the tawny haired boy. He throws his head back in laughter, and turns the corner, his laugh echoing off the stone walls. Sighing, I turn back to Sirius and raise an eyebrow at him. He's still talking _way_ too fast for anyone who hasn't experienced this a thousand times to understand. Even then I can barely understand him. Getting an idea, I pull out my wand and subtly cast a spell. On the wall opposite of Sirius, right in his line of sight, a red dot appears.

"DOT!" Sirius immediately runs over to it and tries to get it. Smiling, I start to direct the dot all around the hall, always keeping him in my sight so that he doesn't end up tripping down the stairs or something. Of course, that doesn't stop him from running into a suit of armor.

Chuckling, I add another dot to the wall, this one about five feet away from the first one.

"Dot!" Sirius says, looking at the new one, then he turns back to the old one, "Dot. But…dot…and…dot…DOTS!"

He starts trying to get them both at once, causing him to run back and forth between the two and turning into a blur again. By this time, quite a few students have gathered and are watching. I get a wonderfully evil idea and cancel the dots.

"Dots? Where? Dots?" Sirius's expression is that of a confused and kicked puppy.

Casting another spell, a new dot appears in a place extremely visible to Sirius. His nose.

"OhmygodandMerlin! DOT!" This was apparently a better idea than I thought because now he ends up chasing the dot around himself. Causing him to end up twirling in circles, flipping around, and over all looking like a whirling sphere of blur-ness.

I can't help it and end up laughing like some mad woman.

"Miss Grimwood, what is going on?" McGonagall asks. Her eyebrows are raised and her eyes are wide. She cannot stop looking at the whirling mass that is Sirius on a sugar high.

"Sirius-Sirius-ah ha ha ha! He's-had-too-ha ha- much-he he he- sugar!" I somehow manage to speak through my laughter, though I'm now holding my stomach, "Remus-made-ha ha ha-me-ha ha-babysit-ah ha ha!"

"So why is he…"

"Chasing-dot."

McGonagall's eyebrows travel even further on her forehead as she watches her seventh year beater. His exclamations of 'Dot!' can still be heard, and are sounding at various decibels.

"Miss Grimwood, please restrain Mister Black."

I stop laughing and turn to McGonagall, "How am I supposed to do that?"

"However you must."

"Remember you said that." I smirk, cancel the dot spell on Sirius, and soon have him pinned to the wall, his dominate hand behind his back and neck in the crook of my arm.

"Miss Grimwood!"

I smile and whisper in his ear, "Calm down _honey_, you don't want to upset Minnie."

"If I knew you were in this mood, I would have found you earlier."

A chuckle escapes me, "Can I let you go now?"

"Sure, but I rather like the way we are right now."

"You shameless flirt."

"Like you aren't."

I release Sirius and look over at McGonagall, who is watching with wide eyes, her wand pointed at me. I give a pout and cross my arms. When she finally lowers her wand, remembering what she had said and where we are, I grin and place my hands in my back pockets.

"I warned you to remember what you said," I say.

McGonagall's eyes narrow, "Yes. Very well Miss Grimwood. I expect both of you to be at the dueling club tonight since you both have so much extra time on your hands."

We watch McGonagall walk away and I can't help but raise an eyebrow at her retreating back. Just what is she trying to achieve?

**AN/ I know this is shorter than previous chapters, but I felt I needed to publish something. Should have another chapter up by the end of the week. Oh, and here's your warning now, the chapters will start getting signifigantly darker. There will be mentions of death, destruction, rape, and other various fiendish things that the DEs and Moldy will do. Consider yourselves warned.**


	21. Of Duels, News, and Mud

Before going down to the dueling club, I look in my trunk, debating the usefulness of being even close to the level of preparedness that I have to be when fighting my father. Snorting, I grab one of my leg holsters with throwing knives and my wrist holster for my wand. I then pull my hair back and pull on my dragon hide boots.

"Why do I feel like you're purposefully going to this thing under prepared?" Lily asks.

I raise an eyebrow, "Under prepared? I feel like I may be over prepared."

Lily blinks, "Surely you don't know that much?"

I smirk, "Don't place any bets on that. I'm a damn good fighter. The only other thing that I feel as comfortable in my knowledge in is warding and obscure magic."

I slide my wand into its holster and start for the door. Looking over my shoulder, I smile at Lily, who is looking at me with a curious expression, "Come on Miss Head Girl. You can't be late for this."

She nods and follows me. I can hear my boots on the floor and adjust my footfalls so that my steps are silent. I hate making noise that gives away my location. It always ends badly. Walking through the common room, I can feel people's eyes follow me. Let them stare. It's not like it'll do them any good.

When we arrive in the Great Hall, there are quite a few people, but still not too many. I nod to Lily before sneaking off into the shadows and blending in. More people start to enter, and then the teachers walk in, starting the club.

"Welcome to the first meeting of the Dueling club," McGonagall says.

_'Of course she'd be the head of this.'_

"First, a demonstration will be given by Professor Flitwick and myself. Then a quick lesson on basic dueling practices, and finally, you all will be allowed to duel other students within the same year as you," McGonagall says.

The other students applaud and I scoff. I knew I should have avoided this meeting. It's going to be boring as hell. _'At least you'll be able to see how well the other students duel.'_

As expected, the professor's duel goes quite quickly and ends in a draw. It's obvious to anyone who knows how a real duel goes that neither of them were actually trying, but the show seems to amuse most of the other students. After that, I watch the other students go through their lesson and, finally, begin to duel each other. As I expected, most of them follow the rules laid out by the teachers.

"I challenge Annalisa Grimwood to a duel!"

The hall turns silent as everyone turns to see who made the call. Lily is standing on one of the stages, her head high. People start to respond and I recognise their voices as they do such.

"Ann's here?" Remus.

"She isn't here. We would have heard her if she was." Rowan.

"Grimwood's too much of a coward to show." Snape.

"Are you sure, Lily?" James.

Oddly enough, Sirius is silent through this, but I can see him watching the area I'm standing in. Good, he's learning. Keeping hidden and treading on silent feet, I make it up to the stage and am standing right behind Lily. I can't help but smirk when I see her keep looking around trying to find me in the crowd.

"I'd rather not place you at a disadvantage," I whisper, watching as she tenses up. I can hear the gasps from the crowd as I return to visibility. "No need for the Head Girl to look bad."

She spins around, a snarl on her face, "Willing to prove that you're not just talk?"

I smirk, "Naturally."

Lily nods and starts to walk her paces. I decide to have a little fun and step backwards, keeping my eyes on her the entire time. Once sure of my distance, I sit back on my heels and wait. When Lily turns around, she looks puzzled.

"Didn't you want to play?" I ask.

"I thought we were going to duel!"

"So start dueling me already."

A few moments later, she starts firing at me. I sigh and put up a charm that reflects her magic back at her. Sitting on the ground, I wait for her to stop wearing herself out. She really should know better than to be so noble.

After a few minutes, I summon her wand, catching the wood lightly. She looks at me with wide eyes. Standing, I brush off my back and walk to her side, handing her wand back. I smile and pat her on the head, about to leave the stage when Snape jumps up and takes a dueling position.

"Really? You too?" I ask, holding back a groan. I really don't feel like doing this today.

"I won't be so easy of a battle for you Grimwood," Snape says.

I shrug, "If you say so."

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

I shake my head. I can understand Lily challenging Ann to a duel, but Snape? Doesn't he know the history of the Grimwood family?

"So how long do you think this one is going to take?" James asks, "I bet Ann will have him beat in five minutes."

Remus chuckles, "You're on. Two minutes, no longer."

"You both are wrong," I say, "Thirty seconds and Ann will have him."

"You seem pretty confident about that."

"She's going to bombard him with a bunch of spells, some will actually do something, others will just be condensed blasts of color," I say. "I can't believe that anyone who knows the history of the Grimwood family would be stupid enough to duel her."

"Well, let's just see. I still say five minutes, no less."

Shaking my head, I watch as Ann and Snape face off. Just as I said, when the battle begins, Ann immediately begins a barrage of spells. Snape tries to use a shield spell, but that breaks within fifteen seconds. He then tries dodging them, but ends up hitting a stunning spell and falls backwards. Meanwhile, his wand flies in the opposite direction into Ann's open hand.

"Holy…Merlin…."

I glance to my right and snicker when I see Remus and James, along with everyone else in the hall, staring in shock.

"Anyone else dumb enough to want to duel?" Ann asks.

James sighs, "We really need someone to try. Think we could convince Flitwick or McGonagall to duel her?"

"No, I don't," Remus says, "Though I know someone who comes close in beating her every time that the five of us duel."

James and Remus both turn to me and I shake my head, "No, absolutely not! Do you think I'm going to make a bloody fool of myself in front of the entire school?"

"No, I think that you're going to prove to the rest of the school that there are quite a few damn good duelists in the seventh year. Naturally, I don't include Lily or Snape because neither of them have actually had a real duel before. You have," Remus says.

"Oh come on, you know you want to." James is smirking at me and I roll my eyes.

"Fine, but I'm warning you. I will get you back for this," I mutter. Rolling up the sleeves of my shirt, I walk toward the front of the room, "Last I knew, you still owe me a duel."

Ann smiles, "Finally, someone who knows how to play. What happened, Sirius? Miss me too much?"

"Ah, more like I miss your ever humble personality."

"Humble?" she snorts, "You must have me confused for someone else."

I nod, "Probably. In either case, will you entertain me with a duel?"

"Gladly. Maybe I'll actually have to try this time."

The two of us stand at opposite ends of the dueling platform. I notice how small the space is and how easily it would be for a stray spell to hit our classmates. Apparently, Ann notices the same thing because she catches my eye and nods. We cast a spell for a dome like shield to appear. Once it's up, Ann casts a stunner at it and smiles when it repels the spell. I then combine two of the dueling stages that had been set up. After this is all done, Ann and I go back to watching each other, waiting to see who will make the first. During this time, I notice that she has her knives on her.

"So when does this end?" I ask. Behind my back I conjure a knife and sheathe and charm it onto my belt. Never be without a weapon.

"When one of us is unconscious?" she asks.

"Fine by me. Just don't complain when you wake up in the Hospital Wing."

"Funny, I was just going to say the same thing."

Time ticks along slowly, and I wait, knowing that this is going to start soon.

~*~Ann's POV~*~

I smile, glad that for once I'll have an actual challenge. I know that neither of us are going to use all the magic that we know. For one, that would be stupid, and for another it would scare the other students. Plus, it wouldn't be fair to Sirius because I know more than he does. However, I know that by now he's probably conjured a knife and that he's damn good with it.

I lose my patients and attack first. That's one thing that the other Marauders still don't understand, is how Sirius, who has pretty much zero patience on a normal day, can be more patient than the rest of us in a duel.

Soon the spells are flying, and I can tell that Sirius is holding back like I am. Neither of us want this to be over too soon. And he's right, I do owe him a duel. Smirking, I conjure some ropes and cast spells on them so that they try to tie him up.

"Really Ann? Such parlor tricks," Sirius says, his voice picking up a sneer.

I laugh, "Just making sure you're not going to sleep!"

"Sure you are."

Sirius manages to transfigure the ropes into dolls and turn them around so that they start to walk toward me, blood lust in their eyes. I snarl and blow their heads up, sending porcelain everywhere. Sirius gives a bark of laughter. My eyes narrow and I send multiple spells at him while he responds in kind. We're both dodging and attacking at once, working through such moves at such speeds that I'm sure to other people it seems like a rehearsed dance. I jump from a spot on the dueling stage, just to have it blow up moments later. Transforming that into a solid wall, I duck behind it and take a couple of deep breaths.

"Are we playing hide and seek now Ann?" Sirius calls.

"If we were, you'd have already lost!" I shout back. Jumping over the barricade, I sprint at Sirius, throwing spell after spell at him. This surprises him slightly, but not enough because when I ram my shoulder into him, he uses the momentum to flip back and keep his feet. He sends quite a few curses at me, some I feel connect, and others I manage to dodge. Leaping back, I sheath my wand and pull out my knives and grin at Sirius.

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

I recognise that grin. It's one that I've seen on her only a few times. It's the one that, when her eyes are dancing, there's going to be trouble, if they aren't, there's going to be hell.

Not taking the time to check which it's going to be, I assume that it's both and move out of the way, throwing my wand into its holster, and pulling my knife from its sheath. I hear something and throw myself to the ground, rolling right as I do so. I hear a _thunk_ and see one of her knives embedded halfway through the wood.

"Are you trying to kill me?" I ask, laughing.

"Nah, I knew you'd move."

"Cocky bitch."

She laughs.

I jump to my feet and shake my head, "You know, one of these days, one of us is going to get hurt."

"I don't doubt it."

By now, we're walking in circles. I can see the teachers talking and know that they're trying to figure out a way to take down the shield. I glance at her at the right time and see her turning her left wrist in circles. Guessing that she injured it, I aim to hit that part of her arm with the pommel of my knife, not expecting to connect. Sure enough, she manages to dodge out of the way, and when I try to slice her, she manages to block it with two of her knives. They may be shorter than mine is, but she knows how to work them really well.

I notice that she's building power in her hands and curse. At the moment, Ann is better at wandless magic than the rest of us, which means problems anytime one of us wants to duel. Throwing my knife to the side, I sprint to the barricade and jump behind it. When I land, I can see beams of light hitting the shield right where I had been. Pulling out my wand, I manage to get her knives away from her and now only have to focus on knocking her out.

I manage to locate her and shoot a stunner at her. My eyes widen in surprise though, when a red beam of light hits me, and I am knocked out.

)o(Remus's POV)o(

Everyone watches as the shield falls. I chuckle, heading for the stage and my unconscious friends. This is the closest anyone has gotten to beating Ann. And it's one of the few times where Sirius has been taken by surprise. A plus for both duelists.

"So they tied?" James asks.

I nod, "Looks like it. They're going to be pissed when they wake up."

"Probably. Let's get them to the Hospital Wing." I cast _mobile_ _corpus_ on Ann and lead her out of the Hall, James doing the same to Sirius. The walk to the Hospital Wing is rather short, but since there aren't too many students in the halls, that makes travel so much easier. I know that their worst injuries are probably from the stunning charms, but I figure it'd be better not to wake them up around the younger years. Once they're lying on beds, Madam Pomfrey runs a quick diagnostic, and then wakes them up.

"Ugh…At least tell me it was a draw!"

I smile as they speak in unison and raise an eyebrow at James. He pulls out a couple of galleons and hands them to me.

"Thank you! Pleasure doing business with you as always," I say, placing the coins in my pocket.

"You may leave, but please," Madam Pomfrey says, "I don't want to see any of you in here sooner than you need to be!"

The four of us salute and quickly exit the room.

"So, are we going to return to the club, or no?" James asks.

"You might want to, being Head Boy and all, but I'm not," Ann says.

I roll my eyes, "Yes, because there is absolutely nothing that you could do in that club."

"Well, I can duel better than everyone there. Excepting the teachers and you three."

"Did you ever think about teaching some of the younger students?"

She blinks, "No, not really."

"I think you should," I say, poking her in the ribs, "You're one of the better duelists around here, and if you can help some of the other students become even half as good as you, then that will be an asset to them and the school. That's the main reason I'm going to attend."

"Fine. But only because I know your argument is better than what Sirius's would have been."

"And what would have been my argument?"

"That I should go so that you aren't bored."

A pause, "True enough."

I roll my eyes and hit the both of them over the head.

~*~Ann's POV~*~

A rustling of feathers sounds above me and I cover my goblet with a small bread plate. Somehow, the owls have managed to get a feather into my drink every time they deliver the mail, unless I cover it. A Daily Prophet lands in front of me, and I unroll it frowning at the picture.

"Mark of Terror?" I mutter, "The bloody hell does that mean?"

Under a black and white picture of a skull with a snake slithering out of the tongue is an article about how this image has been found floating in the night sky at the scene of quite a few murders. No one knows what it is, or who it's from, but many people have already begun to fear it, wondering if it will light the sky above their house any time soon. I skim through the article some more and try to connect the dots forming in my head.

"Want to bet that it's Voldemort?" Remus asks as he sits down, his paper in his hand.

I nod, "That's what I was thinking. There's no other group that I know of that is focused on killing and spreading terror at this time."

"That, and do you remember what was carved into the arms of the people who were hung outside of Gringotts? It was the same drawing." Remus sips his drink and then taps the article with his finger, "I'll bet you anything that this is Voldemort's calling card."

"Calling card?" James asks.

"It's something that, generally, thieves will leave at the scene of the crime when they know that the police won't be able to catch them and they want to take credit," Sirius says. When he notices the looks we're all giving him, he huffs and rolls his eyes, "The Blacks have their fair share of criminals in the family tree. Not that any of them were disowned, mind you."

"Kept a healthy dose of psychotic tendencies did they?" James asks, his voice full of faux light tones.

Sirius, keeping up with James, nods enthusiastically, "Why yes they did! How on Earth did you guess?"

"Pure luck!"

"Ok boys, enough with that now." Lily sits next to James and begins discussing Head duties with him. I roll my eyes and hand Sirius, who was beginning to look like he was going to do something incredibly stupid, the crossword.

"Think that this one is any better than the last?" he asks, his eyes flying over the page already.

"I hope so. The last one took you five minutes to complete."

Sirius grins, pulls out a self-inking quill, and gets to solving the puzzle.

~*~AG~*~

I pull a leaf out of my hair and keep walking toward the greenhouses. November was already halfway through and I can't help but wonder as to where the time is going. It feels like it should only be the middle of October. The only good thing that has happened so far today is that I received the information that I sent for from the Auror Academy. The ministry had shortened the length of time that they were training Aurors again. Not only do they need fighters against Voldemort, but they are trying to get people to protect the Muggles as well.

Stepping into the greenhouse, I dodge the tentacula and proceed to the back of the area where the class is waiting.

"So glad you finally agreed to arrive Miss Grimwood," Sprout says.

"Sorry, but I was caught up helping some first year out of a trick broom cupboard."

"Trick broom cupboard?"

Lily nods, "That one is rather nasty. It's only down the hall from Gryffindor commons. If you so much as brush against the door, you're stuck in there until someone lets you out. I don't know exactly how that came about, but it's been there since our third year."

I nod in agreement, not wanting to tell them that I know _exactly_ how that cupboard came to be and _exactly_ who was the person to create it. Though, in all honesty, it was a complete accident. Sprout nods and continues with the lesson, which is about various ways and uses for a plant called the _Tacca Chantrieri, _or the black bat flower.

"So where were you really?" Lily whispers, "You were nowhere near the commons before class began."

"How do you know I didn't double back?"

"Because you wouldn't. That's not how your mind works."

"Who can answer my question? Miss Grimwood?" Sprout asks.

I glance up and blink at her, "South East Asia."

"Correct."

Letting out a subtle sigh of relief, I turn back to Lily, "Just wait till after class, then I'll tell you, alright? Yes, you as well Marlene."

Marlene, who had been impatiently watching the two of us, nods with satisfaction. The rest of class flies by, with the girls and me making sketches of the plant and flicking pieces of dirt at the Marauders across the room. I snicker when Lily manages to knock a piece that was part dirt, part mud to the inside of James's glasses. While he's wiping them off, Sirius flicks his wand and words appear on the dirt on our table.

'_Evans, I hope you realise, this means war_.' The message read.

"What does he mean?" Marlene asks, glancing over at the four boys.

I shake my head, "Whatever it is, it won't be good."

"Definitely not."

Soon the pitter patter of rain can be heard on the roof of the greenhouse and I frown at the grumbling that a lot of students give.

"Please, it's not as if all of you don't know how to do a water repelling charm," Lily says, rolling her eyes at the people. Quite a few of them give sheepish grins while the others scowl at her. Nothing worse to them than someone who ruins what had the chance of being a good chance to complain. When class ends, the three of us leave, the other two girls eager to find out why I'd been late to class.

"Come on Ann! Please?" Marlene asks.

I shake my head, "Not yet."

"Hey Lily!"

Lily turns around, only for a glob of mud to hit her right in the chest. She looks down in shock before glaring at James. James, who had only just managed to get Lily to allow him to call her by her first name, gives a grin.

"That's for the glasses."

"Potter! That is it!" Lily makes a sudden move and a glob of mud hits him in the face. James stiffens when the cold substance comes into contact with his face. Keeping a stiff back, James pulls his glasses off and wipes them off on his shirt. When the lenses are perched back on his nose, there's a look of total mischief in his eyes.

Recognising what is about to start, I take a few steps away from Lily. Not that James has bad aim, hell he's one of the best chasers the school has had, but I know that people tend to get caught in the crossfire of these things a lot.

I'm contemplating starting a bet with Marlene when my world gets turned in an odd way and I land on my back in the mud. Sirius stands above me, laughing like a loon and sounding incredibly like Padfoot. I narrow my eyes and knock his legs out from under him. We start wrestling in the mud while I can hear the other two laughing as they dodge mud balls.

"Can you believe them? They're acting like children," Marlene says, amusement lacing her voice.

Remus smiles, "Oh yes. They do this quite often."

"Well, you'd think that they would lear-aaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Sirius and I pause in our wrestling to see mud on Marlene's head and Remus chuckling.

"REMUS LUPIN!"

It's not long after that and there's another pair of people having fun in the mud and rain. After a while, Sirius and I are lying tangled together and laughing too much to move. When I finally manage to calm down my laughter, I can see that Remus and Marlene have moved to under the trees where it is relatively dry and that they've cleaned up. I nod and glance at James and Lily, only to have my eyes widen and my jaw drop slightly. They were kissing. No, not kissing, they were in a full out snog.

"Hey Sirius, take a look at that. Prongs finally got Lily's undivided attention," I say, nudging Sirius in the ribs.

Sirius glances up and then grins, "Well it's about bloody time."

**AN/ James and Lily are finally together! Yay! *cues music, confetti, and balloons*. And since we're on the topic of relationships and what not, after some thought I've decided that any sort of romance between any of the characters, excepting Lily and James cause they're canon and kinda important to certain events, is going to be in a separate story. If I put it in Breaking Glass, this story will become entirely too long. As it is, this is the twenty first chapter and I still have at least four or five chapters planned. As always, reviews are appreciated! Thank you to those who have reviewed, especially if you did an anonomous(my spelling is shit right now, but it's also almost one in the morning) review and I haven't been able to thank you as I usually do.**


	22. Of Death

"Due to the current climate in our society, Hogwarts will be playing host to a batch of Aurors. They will not disrupt classes and the most that you will see them is during Hogsmead visits. And speaking of Hogsmead visits, the next one shall be on December Eleventh this year," Dumbledore says and then sits down.

I glance at the newcomers we had noticed at the table. They all seemed to center around a single man. He had quite a few scars on his face, including one that looked particularly nasty and ran right through one of his eyes and continued down to his neck.

"So who do you think is the leader?" Lily asks.

"Black haired man," James and Sirius say at once.

"Why?"

I nod, "The others center their movements around him. Not obvious enough that everyone will notice, but enough that people who are observant enough will."

"Wonder what his name is," Remus says.

"We'd be able to tell if _someone_ didn't lose our_ key_ going for a late night snack," Sirius mutters.

James rolls his eyes, "One mistake and they're all over you."

"Damn straight."

I shake my head and take off for my next class.

~*~AG~*~

I'm sitting in the Hogs Head with Sirius and Remus, laughing at a joke of Remus's when a scream cuts through the air. Glancing up, I see James sprinting into the woods.

"The hell?" The three of us stand and take off at a run, throwing a couple of galleons on the table each as we leave. Following the sound of James's yelling, we stop at the edge of the woods when we see what's happening. James is standing over Lily, who is on the ground shaking, and the both of them are surrounded by black robed figures.

I tap the two next to me and motion to use hand signals only.

_Death Eaters._

_ Thank you for pointing out the obvious._

_ Shut up, both of you._

_ Yes mother._

_ I will kill you._

_ Anyway, what are we going to do about this?_

"What do you want with Lily?" James yells, his fury clearly evident in his voice.

"We could smell her dirty blood. We wish to dispose of it," One of the figures calls out. The tones are feminine and entirely too familiar to me for my liking.

James shakes his head, "You even try to touch her, and I will make sure you regret it."

A crazed laughter sounds, and Sirius stiffens, "You will? But there is only one of you, and ten of us!"

As though we'd planned it, the three of us walk out of the forest and step up to stand next to James, our wands drawn. I can't help the smile that crosses my face at the thought of fighting these idiots and causing them some pain.

"Looks like he's not as alone as you thought Trixie," Sirius says.

The robed idiots laugh. This causes me to smile even more. This is going to be fun. Suddenly red sparks appear high above us, and the Death Eaters start attacking. Throwing a shield up in front of Lily, who is still injured from whatever had happened to her before being brought here, I start to battle a couple of the Munchies. It doesn't take me long to decide that Voldy had sent his low ranking toads. James and Remus have two of them down within seconds, while Sirius and I are playing with two of them each. Two of the Munchies are standing back and watching.

"Come on!" I shout, "At least make this difficult for me!"

One of the people I'm battling falls over at this time, unable to dodge the tripping hex I'd sent at them. I instantly stun and bind them. For once, I'm glad that father pounded it into my head to not allow an enemy the chance to attack you again. Focusing on the other robed idiot, he seems to take offense at my removal of his partner and starts to attack with new vigor.

"_Avada Kedavra_!" His spell is off mark and nearly hits Sirius, who barely manages to dodge.

I snarl in fury, "Bastard! _Diffindo_!"

As I cast the spell, a spell hits my arm and adjusts the aim enough so that the spell goes right through the man's neck. I grab my arm, hissing in pain as my eyes widen and I watch the man's head falls back and off his body. There's blood. So much blood. More than what had come from the dummies when I had warned Rowan off of using magic that he isn't, and hopefully never will be, ready to use.

A crashing sound in the forest causes the Death Eaters to disapparate, and a moment later the Aurors are lead into the clearing by the black haired man.

"Who sent up the red sparks?" the man asks, his voice is rough and he looks pissed.

"Me," Lily says from where she's seated. Her knee has swollen to twice its normal size and has turned purple and green.

The man nods. His team is already searching the area, but he casts a spell and when it comes back to him he calls them back. A few of them grab the two, alive, Death Eaters and disapparate with them. All except for the leader and another Auror gather around the dead Death Eater and begin to discuss what to do with the body. Meanwhile the black haired man and the other Auror gathers us all together.

"Who are you anyway?" Sirius asks, blunt as always. His eyes keep jumping to me and I want to tell him to stop.

The Auror turns his gaze to Sirius. I'd never noticed before, but he has two different eyes. One is a vivid blue and the other a medium brown of sorts.

"And what does that matter to you, Black?" the man asks.

Sirius straightens, "Since you so obviously know my name, I would rather not be at a disadvantage. Plus, it makes conversations go much easier to know the name of whom you are speaking with."

Some emotion flickers through the man's eyes, and he nods, "Alastor Moody. Now, tell me what happened."

"Ann, Remus, and I were in the Hogs Head enjoying some drinks and the relative quiet when we heard a scream. When we looked out the window, James was running into the forest. Deciding to follow him, we manage to keep track of where he went by follow not only the path he made through the forest, but also by the noise he made, especially when he started yelling

"As we reached the clearing, the three of us stop before entering and watch for a few moments. When it becomes apparent that the Death Eaters, who numbered at ten, were going to attack, the three of us ran out to help James. Lily sent up the red sparks and the Death Eaters attacked. Five minutes later, the Death Eaters disappear because they hear you and your Aurors crashing through the forest," Sirius says.

I notice that he doesn't say what happened to the decapitated guy. I hold back a shiver and keep my face as blank as possible.

"And what happened to him?" Moody asks, nodding to the dead Munchie.

Sirius shrugs, "I don't know, there was too much going on and I didn't see."

"Does anyone here know what happened to him?" Moody asks.

I'm about to speak up when Sirius catches my eye and gives me a look that I read as to meaning 'Don't say anything, we'll talk about this later'. I shake my head, glance at the dead man again, and turn away when I feel a flutter down my spine.

"I'm going to need your full names, if you don't mind." It's definitely a command rather than a question.

"Sirius Black."

"James Potter."

"Remus Lupin."

"Lily Evans."

"Annalisa Grimwood."

Moody nods. "Peculiar," he mutters, "Never would have thought such a group. Might be interesting." At this he seems to realise that we're still here and tells us to go back to the castle. James conjures a stretcher for Lily and we all follow him back to the castle.

~*~AG~*~

_'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING! Damn stupid, stupid, stupid girl! How could you think that way? You just killed someone and you enjoyed it? How fucking messed up are you? Guess you aren't that different from your family as you thought huh? If you can be so bloody mad that you enjoy killing someone, then who is to say that you wouldn't enjoy torturing someone? Granted, you already knew that you enjoyed causing others pain, but those were minor things, nothing worse than a broken bone which was healed in a few seconds. This is a whole other ball game. Bloody hell, you really are fucking messed up aren't you? So what happens next? Are you just going to sit here and pretend that everything is ok? That everything in your world is perfectly normal?'_

"Ann?"

My thoughts are interrupted by Sirius as he sits across from me. His eyes show worry, but other than that his face is blank of emotion.

"Hey Sirius, what can I do for you?" I ask.

"I just want to make sure that you're doing alright."

I nod, "Madam Pomfrey fixed me up. Then again it was only a broken arm, not a big deal."

"You know what I mean. It would be understandable if you were freaked out right now," Sirius says, and rubs the back of his neck. I know it's because he's uncomfortable talking about feelings. Truth is, so am I.

"I am, but not for the reason you're expecting."

"Ok, then why?"

I give a slight smile before glancing down, "Trust me…you're better off not knowing."

"But-"

"NO! Sirius…no." I stand and walk away as fast as possible, blocking the ache that I feel and giving everything a mental shove away.

~*~AG~*~

We're all sitting at breakfast and Sirius keeps talking about a mega snowball fight he wants to have and it's all I can do to keep Remus from killing him. I grab a waffle, spread peanut butter on it, and then shove it into Sirius's mouth. His expression is hilarious and the Marauders laugh at him while I give a smirk.

"I was thinking of a silencing charm, but your way is so much more entertaining." Remus smiles with the complement.

"Thank you! Thank you! I'll be here all week!" I pretend to bow when a letter lands on my plate. Glancing at the owl, I notice that it's the family owl and not Fey. "Oh great, now what?"

I barely even pay attention to the black wax seal as I open the letter_. "Annalisa, you and Rowan are o come home this year for the holidays. We have things which must be discussed and I refuse to write them within a letter, Father."_

I roll my eyes and give a slight growl.

Sirius, who finally managed to get his jaws apart, frowns, "That's not good."

"What?" Peter asks. He's been oddly tired lately. I think the stress of upcoming NEWTs is getting to him.

"That growl."

"Oh. What happened?"

"Father wants Rowan and me to return to the house for the holidays. And there's no way of getting around the "request" either. This is going to be a long Christmas." I sigh and rub my eyes.

"We could kidnap you and Rowan and then put you in the Room of Requirement," James suggests. Lily rolls her eyes at him and hits him on the head with her napkin. "What?" he asks.

"Are you serious?" Lily asks, "No puns! That wouldn't work. For one, everyone knows that Ann could easily beat you in a duel. Sorry James, but you're more defensive than she is."

"Besides," I say, cutting off James's retort, "My parents, though idiotic supremacists, are not stupid. He applied a spell to the seal so that he would be informed when it was broken."

Remus nods, "I've heard of that, it's a pretty complicated spell."

I stand, "I've got to go tell Rowan. I'll see you in Defense."

They all nod and start to discuss something or another. I walk to the Slytherin table and chuckle when I see that Rowan and Regulus are in the middle of discussing a spell.

"No, no! You combine them and it will explode. Sorry Rowan, but unlike Sirius, I'm not bloody insane," Regulus says.

"I'll bet you are, just not as obviously," I say, causing the boys to jump. I bite my lip to avoid laughing at them.

Rowan glares, "Merlin Ann! Next time cough or something!"

I smirk, "So sorry."

"No you're not."

"Anyway, it turns out that father is requesting our presence for the holidays. I don't know what's going on, but he has some things that he wants to discuss with us." I sit opposite of Rowan. Hearing an 'eep!' next to me, I turn in that direction. One of the first years is looking at me with wide eyes.

"Hi!" I'm wondering what the kid's response is going to be.

"H-hi. You're a Gryffindor."

I glance down at my tie, "So it would seem. Just don't tell the people who are color blind, I have them believing that my tie is purple and gold."

The kid blinks, "What are you doing over here?"

"Talking to my brother. I'm Ann, what's your name?"

"Timothy."

"Nice to meet you Tim! You don't mind me calling you Tim do you?"

He shakes his head no.

"Awesome! Hey, try the waffles, they're always good."

Tim nods and goes back to his breakfast.

I turn back to Rowan, "So we've got to pack, and I'll talk with McWhiskers to get our holiday plans changed. Anything else?"

"Not that I can think of."

I grab an apple, "Fantastic."

Leaving the table, I bite into the apple and, as I savor the sweet tang, set out for McGonagall's office.

~*~AG~*~

"Ann, are you sure that you have to go?" Lily asks.

I finish clasping my cloak and glance at the red head in the mirror. "Yeah, don't worry. Nothing bad will happen."

"That's what you said last time you went home, and then you came to school looking like a battered skeleton. Granted, it was better than previous years, but still," Lily says, her eyebrows knitting together.

I laugh, "Sure I do. So don't open your present until Christmas, and don't kill James. You've been dating him and acting civil for too long now to hate him, so play nicely."

Lily frowns, "I wasn't joking about what I said."

"I know."

Grabbing my bag, I was leaving my trunk here because Rowan and I won't be at the house for too long, I place a shrinking charm on it and put it in my pocket. Once that's done, I don't have anything left, but glance around to make sure I have everything that I know I'll need anyway, give Lily a hug, surprising the red head, and leave the tower.

Sirius falls in step next to me and his hands are in the pocket of his trousers.

"I thought you'd be having fun in the snow."

A shrug, "The rematch snowball fight isn't until later. So what do you think your parents want?"

"I don't know. I hoping that this isn't a bunch of rubbish though."

"Just…don't get into any trouble…I've got a bad feeling about this," Sirius says.

"If anything happens, I'll be out of there so fast apparition will have to catch up." I smile.

Sirius gives a weak chuckle, "Just don't splinch yourself."

"Never." I find Rowan and adjust his scarf slightly. He gives a mock glare and grabs his trunk.

"Ready?" Rowan asks.

I nod and turn to Sirius, "See you when we get back."

To my surprise Sirius pulls me into a hug.

"Be careful," he murmurs in my ear. When he lets go, he has a smile pasted on that would fool many. He waves as we exit the school. I can't help but smile at him, hoping that he'll relax, and wave back.

Climbing into the carriage, I wait for it to start moving while Rowan watches the snow falling. As the carriage finally begins to move, I sigh and look out the front window and look at the Thestrals. When I had first seen them, I was shocked and a little curious, but I knew that they would have become visible after…well…after I killed that guy. Voldemort is only becoming stronger. If the whispers that can be heard from certain groups are correct, then he is more of a threat than people think. It's not that he's commanding a large group. It's that he and his followers are ruthless and that the Ministry is practically doing nothing.

"Ann, what are you staring at?" Rowan asks.

I jump, breaking from my thoughts, "Huh? Oh, the Thestrals."

"The what?"

"Thestrals, they're the creatures that pull the carriages," I say, "Unless someone sees another person die, then the horses remain invisible. It's a pity you can't see them. They have their own beauty to them."

Rowan blinks, "You've seen someone die?"

I nod.

Rowan, knowing not to push the subject, nods and starts talking about something he had heard the older Slytherins talking about. Apparently not all of them were getting ready to join Voldemort. Unfortunately, quite a few of the younger students were being bothered to join when they could.

"Has anyone asked you?" I ask.

"No, they don't think that I'm a good fighter," he says, giving a grin. I smirk, knowing that he's better than other people think because he had me train him how to fight. It was either that or watch as he tried to learn how to use Dark Magic on his own. Lesser evil dictated watching my brother make a fool of himself against a shadow warrior.

"If they try, remember that castration spell I taught you."

"What if a girl asks?"

"Aim for the chest, it'll work the same way."

Rowan shudders, "You're vicious."

"Just a little bit." The carriage stops and the door is opened from the outside. Alastor Moody nods when he sees who is inside.

"The Grimwoods, good, I've been expecting you."

I nod and step out of the carriage. The moment my feet touch the ground I get a prickle on the back of my neck and scan the area more completely than I normally would. Rowan, who has also climbed out, notices my behavior and raises an eyebrow. I shake my head and narrow my eyes. Placing a hand on his shoulder, I start to move him to the apparition point while continuously keeping a look out. I send out a bit of magic, searching to see if I can find the disturbance. Around one of the houses, I can feel something that's a miss, and when I glance there, see a black cloak. Warnings flash in my head, and I push Rowan to the ground when I see a wand come out.

"Get down!" I shout, placing a shield over the both of us and blocking the spell. I send a group of spells at the assailant and pull Rowan up by the arm and start running to the exit. Best to just get out and let the Aurors do their job. When we reach the apparition point though, it is being magically blocked. When I have to block more spells, I realise that I don't have time to take down the anti-apparition wards.

"Get out of here Grimwood!" Moody shouts.

"Working on it!" I snap. I block another couple of spells and notice that there are more Death Eaters arriving.

"Damn, damn, double damn!" Trying to figure out a plan, I see the Thestrals and start running back to them. Rowan follows, blocking spells on one side, while I block the other. By the time we make it to the carriage, one of the Thestrals has been killed by a stray spell, and the other is going nuts.

Rowan works at calming it down, something that he finds rather difficult as he cannot see it, while I work at cutting the poor beast from its harness. Once that's done I help him onto the creature's back.

"Go to the shrieking shack, I'll meet you there!" I say.

"Ann be careful!" Rowan says before taking flight.

Spinning around, I block the spells that are heading in my direction and narrow my eyes. I don't have time to get into a fight right now. I scowl and cast some spells at the Death Eaters, trying to get out of this without losing too much time. Mother and father are going to be pissed if I'm too late, and I'd rather not deal with them when they're angry.

"Grimwood! What are you doing? Get out of here!" Moody shouts.

"I'm trying! Bloody hell, you'd think that I mean to get into fights with these people!" I send a stunner at a munchie, and then notice that another one is about to curse Moody from behind. Sending a spell at Moody, I knock him out of the way before knocking the robed idiot out. Finally seeing an exit, I take off at a sprint, casting spells over my shoulder at the people trying to follow me and ignore the yelling of the black haired Auror. I will admit it, I enjoyed knocking him away. Bloody man has been keeping a close eye on me since meeting me and I don't like it one bit.

Ignoring the burning of the cold air as it enters my lungs, I keep running through the village, dodging around the various people out shopping, and try to get to the Shrieking Shack as soon as possible. I don't know if there are any more Death Eaters in the area, and I hope to Merlin that there aren't. When I get to the shack though, my worries are for naught and Rowan runs up to me and pulls me into a hug, babbling about how worried he had been.

"Come on, we're already late and you know how they get," I say. Rowan nods and grabs onto my arm tightly. I turn and disapparate from the area.

"About time you arrive you foolish girl! Go to your father's room and make sure that he does not need anything! His health has fallen since the fall," mother says.

I give a bow, ignoring the urge to slap her, and travel up to father's room. Something happened to him near the end of summer, and since then he's just been sick. Father says that he's dying, and I honestly don't doubt him. The man is also too stubborn to have a healer look at him and try to help him. I knock before entering the room.

"Hello father, how are you today?" I ask after bowing. I frown at the state of the room and cast several cleaning spells, nodding once they've done their job.

"Not horrible. There are moments where I fall into a madness, but I have yet to have any of those episodes today," father says. I can feel his eyes following me as I move around the room, working at cleaning it out and opening the drapes. The light causes father to look much worse than how he had appeared I the dark and I frown.

"Have you been taking any potions?" I ask.

"I have no need for them," father says, waving off my concerns, "Grab the book on rituals by Musatei cel Rau and bring it to me."

I frown, "I don't think you should be looking at Musatei cel Rau's book."

"Annalisa, do as I say."

"Yes father." I leave the room and go to the library, to the back section and pull out an old black leather bound book. Family legend has it that Musatei had bound this book in the skin of her sworn enemy, Niculaita Craiovescu. Of course, no one has ever proven or disproven this fact, but that the Grimwoods can be traced back to the 1500s is what impresses most of the pureblood families. The title of the cel Rau family, however, is still in Romania and I am nearly certain that, despite what many of the English side of our family says, we will not inherit that title for a long time, if ever. It's more likely that someone in our branch will inherit the title of the Magennis family, which is the Irish side of the Grimwoods.

Re-entering father's room I hand him the book. He motions for me to sit in the armchair by his bed and starts to carefully flip through the tanned pages.

"How are your studies?" he asks, eyes scanning the pages.

"Rather well. McGonagall says that I am definitely going to do exceedingly well in my NEWTs, so long as I keep up the work on my classes."

"Excellent. Are you still determined to become an Auror?" he asks, his voice betraying the anger he feels at my decision. Father does not believe that I should be going into such a field, especially when he saw how good I am at wards. He believes that I would be better becoming a master warder.

"Yes father, and no amount of complaining, threatening, or asking nicely will change that."

Father looks at me from the top of his book, "I have never asked nicely."

I smirk, "I know, but I figured that you were starting to become desperate."

There's a pause and then he laughs. It surprises me at first, but then I smile. As much as we have been at odds, understatement of the century here, I have really missed my father's laugh.

"I wish I knew where you gained that sense of humor," father says once he's stopped laughing.

I smile, "It's rather dry isn't it?"

"Dry but refreshing," father says, then he nods, "I have a ritual that I wish to do. There are some things that you'll need to buy, but they should be easy enough to find. Go work on your fighting and come back in three hours."

I nod, "Yes father."

Leaving his room, I frown. What is he thinking? Any ritual at this point can be hazardous to his health.

~*~AG~*~

I arrive back from Knockturn Alley to see Tessa and Bellatrix sitting in the lounge, discussing something in low tones. When I have to walk past the room, they turn quiet and watch me with nothing less than contempt. Rolling my eyes, I continue up to father's room, knock once, and then enter.

"Did you find everything?" he asks.

"Yes father," I say, "Though, I am curious as to why you wanted me to gather the ingredients for a ritual? If you even attempt to take part of one your health will only get worse."

"I am well aware of the consequences," father says, "Go do some studying or play chess with Rowan, I will call you back when I need you."

Bristling at his abrupt dismissal, I nod and leave the room. I know Rowan is probably in the library and will probably be very willing to play some chess or something and I'm really not in the mood to be alone at the moment.

I plop into the chair across from Rowan and put my feet on the table. He glances up and raises an eyebrow.

"When did you get new boots?"

"I've had these for a while, I just never wear them."

"Uh-huh. So father kicked you out of his room?"

"Yep, you?"

"Yeah. Want to listen to him and play some chess?"

I groan, "Fine. Not like it matters or not, I'd lose to you anyway."

"That's because I'm amazing."

"No, you're just damn good at chess."

Rowan tilts his head, "And the difference is?"

"Just set up the board you twerp."

Rowan sticks his tongue out at me and starts to set up the chess board after pulling it out. Once he had all the pieces set up we started playing. Soon enough, Rowan was beating me royally and I could only send my pieces off to their death. And it was with an odd foreboding when I noticed that my King and Queen were being protected by only my Bishops and a Rook. I watch as we play and Rowan manages to separate my bishops from each other and my rook from the others. Then he takes the Queen and the King. I stare at the pieces on the marble board, my mouth slightly open.

"Ann? Are you ok?" Rowan asks.

I start, "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just caught in my own world for a moment."

A bell sounds and I stand. As I pass Rowan, I ruffle his hair, "Clean up and check on dinner, please."

Striding through the hall, I enter into father's room and frown. The man is insane. He is out of his bed in his robes. He has some obscure ritual mostly set up, and nods at me when I enter.

"Excellent, I was hoping you would arrive quickly. I have some things which you must assist me with."

"Father," I say, "Wouldn't it be better for you to rest and do this when you are better?"

"What does it matter to you? I thought that you hated the family with a passion? What happened to despising me?" he asks.

I blink and pause before answering. Tell the truth, or lie? "Even though I completely disagree with your opinions, think that you can be one of the most vindictive people in the world, and would love to beat the bloody hell out of you, you are my father. I am from your blood. Therefore, as much as I hate you, I still wish for you to live."

Father watches me, a frown on his face and eyes boring into mine. I do not turn away. After a while, he nods and turns back to the book in front of him.

"Very well," he says, "Anna, draw a pentagram on the floor and within it, put the runes of jera, eihwaz, sowulo, othala, and pethro."

Nodding, I do as he says, the entire time trying to figure out what he is doing based on what I know about the runes. I can't figure out what it could be, and I think that's the part that worries me the most. Once that is finished, father has me set up a few other things. I start to walk out of the room when he calls me back.

"Yes?"

"You're so worried about me? Then why not assist in this?" he asks.

My eyes narrow, "This is not a two person ritual. I can tell, the runes are not right."

"Still, I find the need for you to participate in this."

I do as father directs, feeling the magic building within the room, and I cannot help but be surprised and worried at the same time. Surprised because I have never felt my father's full power. Worried because he is using so much when he is ill. If he uses too much, he'll end up killing himself.

"Omnes Magia, potest addidit suam, et reserare, Magiae et fortitudine, transierunt de familia, ad pertinent ad heredem. Mea tenebris angelus."

My eyes widen and I feel a wind whipping around, magic far more powerful than I would have thought circling around the room. My hair and robes fly around in the wind, but more impressive is my father. A dark blue, almost black, light is glowing along his skin while power shows within his eyes. His robes also fly around within the wind along with his hair, which is longer than I have seen it since I turned ten. He does not look sick. He does not look like he did just a few moments ago. He looks like the Head of the Grimwood family.

He walks over to me and places one hand on my sternum and the other on my right shoulder. It burns, but freezes. It's painful, but comforting. It's foreign, yet familiar. It is his magic, yet now it is mine.

When he pulls away we both fall to the ground. Giving a light groan, I manage to crawl over to my father and turn him onto his back. His breathing is shallow and he looks ten times worse than he did before he started the ritual. His eyes are now extremely shadowed and there's a sheen to his face. When he opens his eyes though, they look far younger than they have in years. He smiles when he sees me and motions me closer.

"I have written a letter for you. It is in the top drawer of my desk in the study." He then kisses my cheek and lays back on the ground. I stare at the man in shock and he smiles at me, closes his eyes, and doesn't move again.

"Father?" Nothing. "Father, if this is your humor it isn't funny." Still nothing. "Dad?"


	23. Of Fight and Flight

~*~AG~*~

_My Darling Anna,_

_ It has been far too long since I have called you that. Far too long since I have shown you any kindness. And yet, I find that you have grown up to have a remarkable amount of it. I cannot tell if this is just your character, or if you found it as your grew, but I hope that you keep it in your life. _

_ There are few things in my life which I regret. The main one is not allowing you the chance to grow as a child should be allowed. In this, I feel that I have failed you. I understand if you find this odd, this sentimentality from me. This love. But, the truth is that I have always loved you. You always have been my favorite of my children, and I wish that I could show you that as the truth, but I doubt that you would believe me anyway._

_ As you are reading this letter, I have already died and transferred my magic to you. You already have a remarkable amount of power for yourself, and I feel that with the addition of this magic, you will be able to do what it is you must. What that is, I am not aware. The cosmos have yet to clue a mere mortal like me into their plans, but I feel that you will need all the help that you can acquire. As such, I shall go against words that I have told you before. Stay close to Sirius Black. That boy is powerful, intelligent, and loyal. He is, regardless of what I, your mother, or his parents have said in the past, a remarkable wizard._

_ Take care of your brother. I know I need not say that, but if I do not, I will feel as though I have not fulfilled my duties as your father. You are a good girl. You are strong and brave. Smart, cunning, loyal, proud, and determined. I am proud to have you as a daughter. As my heir. Thus, I should warn you, your mother plans your death. For you to not inherit the family line, she must kill you, and that is how far she is willing to go to keep the family within her vision. _

_ My Anna, do as you must. Whether you feel the need to fight her and defeat her, or the need to just abandon the family as they stand. That decision is yours to make, and I feel that it is within more than capable hands. _

_ I hope the best for you, my atrum angelus. I know that you will do great things, for you were born to do great things. The Aurors will gain an exceptional fighter. This I am sure. Stay strong my Anna. Do not forget who you are. Regardless of what people may say, keep your head high. Remember, you are a Grimwood. You are of my flesh and blood and magic. And I could never be more proud._

~*~AG~*~

I slowly descend the stairs and enter the kitchen. Mother and Tessa are sitting at the table, chatting about some inane subject or another. I clear my throat and smirk when they start.

"What do you want?" Mother asks, her face set in a grimace.

"I thought that you would care to know that father has died."

"Absurd!" Tessa says, standing from the table quickly, "He would have called me to his bed before he died! It is Grimwood tradition for the eldest child to be given the head of the family's magic when they die!"

"Believe what you want! He is dead, there is no changing that!" I cannot believe that the first thing she thinks about is that she should have gained his magic. "Idiotic girl, your father has died! Do you feel no grief?"

"And you do?"

I frown, "My relationship with father is different from yours. You were pampered where I was not. Therefore I believe that my lack of apparent grief is appropriate."

"He was the head of the family! You should show him respect through your grief!"

"Oh what am I thinking? Allowing my opinion of what is to be expected of me to differ from yours. Yes, because you were absolutely raised to take the Headship of this family," I drawl. Tessa flushes and walks from the room.

"I hope you realise that you will be unable to lay claim to that title," mother says, "At current, it now belongs to me."

I smile at her, "Actually you're wrong. I can take it at anytime. But you know what? Keep the damned title. I'll just take it when you're dead."

"I wouldn't expect my death for a while if I were you."

"I can hope, can't I?"

Mother's eyes widen and she bristles, about to yell, when Tessa comes back downstairs. This time she is more subdue.

"She's telling the truth. He's dead."

Mother deflates a bit, and nods, "Very well. We have a funeral to prepare for."

~*~AG~*~

Standing in front of the coffin, I use the movements that I'd learned what feels like ages ago. The entire time I am ignoring the glares and acidic whispers from the crowd, I start with the final part of the spell, and watch with satisfaction as the gems form the most spectacular pattern and are of the darkest color. Upon completion of the spells, I step outside and walk amongs the tombstones, lighting a cigarette and watching the smoke drift to the sky.

"Are you ok? That spell seems really draining," Rowan says, catching up with me.

I shrug, "It's not as bad as when I used it the first time. I hope you realise that all hell is going to break loose when we go back to the house."

"Why?"

"Because," I take a drag and blow the smoke from my nose, "mother is not too pleased and she has probably heard about several events which have taken place today."

Rowan nods, "Well, then let's get back inside. It's freezing out here."

I drop the butt of the cigarette and watch it melt the snow in its path. Crunching back into the funeral, I sit at the back of the room and listen to the rest of mother's speech. Naturally she can't just give a eulogy. She has to give an entire run down of what she has planned for the family.

"And Annalisa has decided to let me lead the family until she has finished helping the cause."

My head snaps up, my fingers pausing in picking at a string on my robes. I cannot believe my ears. Gritting my teeth, I hold back from yelling in the middle of the funeral. I don't want to disrespect the dead.

"Annalisa plans on helping the Dark Lord much like her sister has, and make a good name for the Grimwoods."

I feel my restraint slipping, though I remind myself to wait until we get back to the house to yell at her. Surely she's going to stop lying now? Or does she really want a fight?

"However, she will not just be any Death Eater. She has plans becoming amongst the inner ring of the Dark Lord, and possibly even being his right hand."

"Bullshit!"

I hear the gasps run through the crowd and they all turn to face me. Mother's eyes are now clashing with mine and I hold back a snarl.

"Excuse me?" she whispers.

"You heard me. I said bullshit. I have never shown any interest in groveling at some man's feet!" I slowly stand, knowing fully that this is going to escalate, "Unlike others within my presence, I do not lower myself to a rank which is below a house elf. How dare you even suggest that?"

Mother sneers, "Peg, please follow me and assist with explaining to Annalisa what her duties are."

Aunt Peggy smiles, "With pleasure."

I can see the movement before mother makes it. However due to the amount of young children in the room, I cannot block the spell. Flying through the doors I hit my head on a gargoyle-esque statue and roll to the side. Flicking my wrist, I close the doors behind the two women and add a shield to it which will block any stray spells.

"You really don't want to do this," I say.

"Oh, but you're wrong. We do," Aunt Peggy says.

I laugh, "Fine, we're already gathered for one funeral. Might as well make it three."

As they start to attack, I cannot help but to smile and laugh. They really are horrible duelists. How they made it this far in life without dying, I cannot fathom. They soon resort to using Dark Magic and eventually one of them gets my wand away from me and my hands pinned to the wall above my head. I smirk at them, wondering what they're going to do and admiring the cuts and bruises that have already formed on them, knowing that more will form soon.

"Not so tough now, are we?" Aunt Peggy says, her eyes shining with victory.

I chuckle, "You're a cocky bitch."

Her eyes widen in shock as she lets out a squawk of indignation. I roll my eyes and use wandless magic to release my hands. When that works better than it usually does, I smile.

"There we go, now this'll be a fair fight."

Aunt Peggy doesn't have a chance. I manage to cast enough spells at her to leave her unconscious for a month. Her skin is bright purple, her hair neon green, and she has bumps along her skin. She is also hanging from the ceiling by her ankles and has pigeons roosting on her. How the pigeons came about, I don't know, but I suspect a couple of spells merged together. Something to look into for later.

"Now that we won't be interrupted," I say, summoning my wand, "What is it that you wish to discuss with me?"

"Oh, family politics," mother says. Then the bitch hits me with a blasting curse. Luck is on my side when I get a shield up in time, but I'm still thrown into a stone wall. I groan, feeling the pain in my back. Mother also manages to summon my wand and starts to send various dark spells at me. Within a few moments I have been electrocuted, cut, burned, have had the air compressed from my lungs, and I'm sure that she broke my left arm. She uses another spell to send my flying into the wall again.

"Thank Slytherin," mother says, "That Rowan is a much better Grimwood than you could ever be."

"Leave…him…alone," I manage to gasp, slowly gaining my breath back.

"Ah, but I have such big plans for your brother…such plans that he'll be _marked_ for the occasion."

Letting out a snarl, I leap at her, transforming into Shadow mid jump. Her eyes widen with terror. I land on her, my front paws on her shoulders, causing her to fall onto her back. My left paw is at her neck within moments, my claws pressing against the soft flesh. It would be so easy. Too easy.

I turn into a human, my right hand grabbing my wand as my left hand closes around her throat. My wand tip then digs into her temple ever so slightly, causing her to whimper.

"You ever threaten to hurt my brother's well-being again, and you will find out that I am much more of a Grimwood than you think I am!" Letting her go, I take down the shield in front of the doors and walk into the room where the rest of the family is waiting. They look shocked at my appearance and I quickly find Rowan, motioning to him to come to me. When he reaches me, he grabs my arm and I turn, apparating us away. When we land in the house, I turn to him and make sure he's looking me in the eye.

"If you want to leave with me, now is your chance. Grab whatever you need, but be sure to hurry in your packing. I'm not sure how much time we have," I tell him. He nods and practically flies up the stairs. I summon my bags and shrink them. As I place them in my pocket, I hear a crack of apparition and am hit with a curse. I feel the skin on my back split open and quickly turn to face my attacker. Tessa is standing before me, her eyes narrowed and fury on her face. She flicks her wand at me again, and I feel the cut on my chest from first year open again. But before I can move, one word leaves her mouth that I am absolutely unprepared for.

"_Crucio!_"

I clench my jaw, doing all I can to ignore the pain and pretend that it doesn't exist. I feel her push more power into the spell and can taste copper in my mouth. Suddenly, she cuts the spell.

"How dare you?" she whispers, "You dare treat our mother like that? To throw away the Grimwood name like that?"

I spit blood at her and smile, "I'm a Gryffindor, daring is a requirement."

She snarls at me and casts first one spell and then crucio again. The pain is incredible. And even as I scream, I cannot help but admit that it was smart to cast a spell to make my nerves extra sensitive before the second crucio.

Because my eyes are squeezed shut, I don't see anything, but I hear the yell of anger and the thump of someone hitting the floor. The pain lifts and I take in deep breaths, wondering if my throat will be forever sore.

Rowan looks at me with worried eyes, his wand pointed at Tessa, "Are you going to be ok?"

I nod, wincing as that triggers more pain, "Yeah…come on…let's get to Hogwarts."

Rowan, who has already shrunken and lightened his luggage, grabs my arm. I disapparate, with full intentions of never returning to that hell hole. Our feet touch on the snow covered ground of Hogsmead in a moment and I barely manage to keep my feet. Pain flashes up and down my body and I see multiple images of everything around. Giving my head a light shake, I give Rowan, who looks really worried, a smile.

"Shall we get to the castle?"

He nods.

I shift my cloak and lead the way toward the path and school. The moon is in waning Gibbous, and I can see a dark trail following me in the snow. I grimace, wondering how long it will take to recover from this. I know Rowan can see the trail as well, he is following behind me after all, but neither of us say anything.

We reach the main doors of the castle and I find them locked when I attempt to open them. Deciding to do the next logical thing, I knock on the wood.

The door opens and I smile at Sirius, who is staring at us, bewildered.

"Told you I wouldn't splinch."

I proceed to fall forward as the world turns black.

~+~Sirius's POV~+~

Catching Ann before she hits the ground, I feel a warm dampness on the front and notice the trail that is behind her in the snow. I pull my hand back, notice it's a dark red, and pick her up.

"Rowan follow me to the Hospital wing!" I turn around and take off at a run, not even caring to make sure that he'll follow. I dodge around the few people in the hall and take a passage that I know leads to the floor that the Hospital wing is on. As I run toward the door I growl, wondering why the Hospital wing's door is closed. Not even bothering to slow down, I use my momentum to kick open the door, running past it as it bangs against the wall behind it. Madam Pomfrey comes running out as I reach one of the beds.

"What is going on?" she asks, her voice screeching.

"Ann's badly injured and needs help," I say.

The matron's eyes catch sight of the girl on the bed and she moves like a firework. Casting various spells, she notes the colors that appear on Ann and either grabs or summons the necessary potions. Her wand is also moving quickly, sealing cuts and keeping the diagnostic charm working.

"Blue," I mutter, "cuts. Green for burns, and black is Dark Magic in general. Yellow is electric shock, while purple is for broken bones. What does orange mean again?"

Rowan, who had arrived sometime during the chaos, lets out a shaky breath, "Crucio."

I pull him to the side while keeping a count on the number of blood replenishing potions used. "She's been under Cruciatus?"

Rowan nods, "At least once. I don't know about any other time, but when I came down from packing, Ann was screaming and Tessa was above her. It was so bad that my hairs still stand on end at the thought of her scream."

"Oh gods, and she has such a high tolerance for pain. I can't imagine anything that would make her scream like you said," I mutter.

"She said the same about you, you know. When you ran away and came here in the same shape she's in, she said the same thing about you," Rowan says. He bites his lip, eyes never leaving his sister's bed. "I hope she'll be ok."

"She will," I say, more sure than I feel. _'She has to be.'_

~+~SB~+~

I tuck the quilt around Rowan and sit back in the chair I've been occupying for the past few hours. I know that there's no reason for me to stay awake and watch her. I know that I have no excuse. But I feel as though I have to make sure that she's ok. Rowan had stayed awake for as long as he could, but he eventually fell asleep. Sighing, I wonder when the world decided to go to hell and hand out horrible Karma for some unknown evil committed.

"You should be sleeping."

I glance at Ann and give a slight smile, "So should you."

She gives a shrug, winces, and glances at Rowan before her eyes return to mine, "I will. Trust me, I'm entirely too tired to stay up for too long. I just thought that I'd heard Rowan make a noise. I wanted to be sure that he's ok."

"No, I think you heard me sigh," I say, "So, what happened?"

Her eyes grow distant for a moment before she gives a soft smile, "Nothing too horrible."

"Liar."

"Prove it." She shakes her head, "Anyway, my father's dead now."

"He's dead?" My tone doesn't properly convey my shock and I raise an eyebrow.

She nods and winces again, "Oh…bloody bitch…yeah. The idiot has been sick for a while and then he decided that he wanted to perform a ritual. He died right after it was performed."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't bother. I never cared for the bastard anyway."

I frown. Though the statement rings true, Ann has never been happy with her home life, something seems off. It's off in the same way that I assume it would be for me if someone had asked how I felt leaving Grimmauld place for good those first few days. "So, you're head of the family now?"

"Technically. Mother is controlling the title at the moment, but I could easily deal with her if I wanted to. But she isn't worth my time."

"How did you end up here like this?" I ask, "I've never seen you so beaten up returning to Hogwarts."

A partial smile forms on her face, "It all went to hell. Plan and simple."

I frown and watch, even as she falls back asleep. Leaning back, I settle into the chair I'm in and try to get some sleep, though my thoughts staying uneasy preventing me from doing a good job.


	24. Of Losing It

I throw the paper away from me in disgust. How could someone do that to a person, much less a child? I've seen some fucked up things in my life, being a member of the demented house of Black tends to grant that privilege to you, but still…to do that to a person is horrible.

"Bad news?" James asks, raising an eyebrow. His other eyebrow joins the first when he watches me light the Daily Prophet on fire. "I'm guessing that's a yes."

"More news about the Death Eater pieces of scum," I say. I can't get across the level of disgust I feel properly, "I'm not sure who is worse though. The Death Eaters for doing it, or the paper for printing it."

James shakes his head, "Is it about the Massacre in-"

A scream sounds throughout the Hall, and the both of us quickly turn in the direction. At the Hufflepuff table, a girl with brown hair was crying. In her hand was the paper, and her friends were watching with worry.

"Candiace Aplebins, isn't her family from that town?" James asks.

"I think so." I frown, "How many does that make now?"

"Forty, I think," James says, "Though to be honest, I lost count after twenty seven."

I nod. "I'm surprised that Dumbledore hasn't cancelled the Hogsmead visit that's coming up."

James shrugs, "I think he wants to keep things as normal as possible for the students. I'll admit, it works rather well for the younger years, but I've had a lot of the older years come and ask for help with dueling."

"Why?"

"Just in case there's an attack like on the train."

No one had heard about the attack where Lily had been taken and the rest of us had followed her. No one asked any questions about it or about the aftermath. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it doesn't bring attention to the…problems…that came from that fight. Bad because many people assume that Hogsmead isn't going to be attacked. And with the way that the weather has been improving lately, I can't help but to worry if there's going to be a larger attack on the little village.

~*~Ann's POV~*~

I walk into the Hog's Head and look around for a moment, ignoring the water dripping from my hair. Sure enough, he's seated at the bar, a glass of Firewhiskey in front of him. Sitting next to him, I flag down the bartender and order the same thing. I think about what he could be feeling and I keep coming up short of what must be going through Sirius's mind right now. He saw one of his friends die. Granted, it wasn't a Marauder, but it was still one of his classmates and peers. The only reason that I know he saw was the look of utter and complete shock on his face in the middle of the fight, and now with his look of total numbness now.

"Sirius," I begin, "McGonagall has noticed that you're missing. James and Remus are asking for you up at the hospital wing."

"I don't care," he mutters, "Let them call and let her look. I don't care."

"Come on. You don't mean that."

"Prove it."

"Sirius-"

"Don't! Don't even start!" he growls, "You have no idea what I'm thinking or feeling right now!"

I take a sip of my Firewhiskey, "You're right. I don't. I've never seen one of my year mates killed right in front of me. But I would rather see them killed than tortured."

He stays silent.

"You want to talk about it?"

"NO! Just leave me alone! I don't want to talk!" he shouts.

"Fine," I mutter, lowering my voice.

Meanwhile the only thing I can think of is how this would affect Sirius, the Marauders, and the rest of the school. The moral of the entire school is going to drop even more. It doesn't help that attacks have been happening outside of school even more than in previous years. Everything is escalating and there's nothing that we can do about it. The only thing that we can do is hope and pray and work on our magic.

Tipping back the rest of my drink, I pat him on the back and give the bartender a meaningful glance. He nods and corks the rest of the bottle. I tip him highly, and then leave the bar and Sirius and head back up to the school through the side streets of Hogsmead. Yet even these areas are almost ruined by the destruction caused by the Death Eaters. They had attacked in the middle of a Hogsmead visit, right in the middle of the day, ensuring that they had the best chance of gaining the most casualties and most injuries. That's why Remus and James were in the Hospital wing. The five of us, Sirius, Remus, James, Lily and me, were in the Three Broomsticks when it happened. It was our stop for lunch and we were talking about the Quidditch match coming up when we heard the screams. Almost instantly Remus, Sirius and myself launched toward the door, the teachers telling us to stay inside, telling us that they would deal with it. We ignored them. James and Lily worked at appperating people right up to the boundary where the Hogwarts wards took effect and gave them a push toward the school while Madam Rosemerta and one of her patrons were flooing people to Hogwarts.

I'm shaken from my thoughts by a cry in the night. Looking around I see one of the houses that was practically destroyed by the death eaters. Waiting a moment, I hear a scream and rush toward the dilapidated building.

_ I run out into the street and turn toward where the screams are coming from. Almost all I can see are people in black cloaks. Death Eaters. More than I have ever seen and they all are coming this way, firing spells out at random and attacking innocents. Letting out a snarl, I charge right at the mass. The thought that I could die only crosses my mind once before I banish it and attack the nearest Death Eater, who is currently torturing a third year._

_ "What the hell?"_

_ "Hell? You wish!" I snarl, "Ossavitro!"_

_ It doesn't hit me that I just used Dark Magic right off the bat. All I notice is the look of intense pain on his face before a random spell hits him, killing him. I race to the third year and pick up the child. He's breathing, but barely. I run him to a fifth year._

_ "Quick, take him to the Three Broomsticks and floo to the hospital wing!" I shout. The kid, who looks terrified, nods. Grabbing the younger year, the fifth year takes off running and disappears into the pub. I turn back to the battle and start firing off spells._

Reaching the house I use _revelare_ _humana _to see that whoever it is, is in the northern part of the rubble. I move around the rubble and then begin to levitate pieces of rubble from the top of the pile to the side, knowing that it all could collapse at any time. Once I've got a good portion of it away I light my wand.

"Hey! Who's in here?" I shout.

There's a sniffle, "Marybelle."

"Alright Marybelle, can you see the light from my wand?" I ask.

"Barely." Comes her reply.

"Ok, let me know when you can clearly see it." I cast a spell to keep some _lumos_ orbs hanging in the air and start to remove more rubble. It takes another five minutes of work, and by this time I can feel my brow starting to sweat from the entire day's exertion.

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

_ I dodge the spell and turn to the Death Eater who fired it. He's giving me a look as though to say 'What are you going to do about it?' I grit my teeth together and quickly fire a couple of spells at him, before having to dodge another one of the robed jackwagon's attacks. I notice that they all are really starting to swarm now, that they all are pushing in around those of us fighting. Letting out another snarl, I flick my wand and just use whatever I have in my arsenal to get rid of them._

_ "Susicitatio umbra! Peonapectus pectoris! Umbra proeliator! Ignis!" I call, casting each spell quickly and either at the Death Eaters or in the surrounding area. The moment that the shadows have been animated and the shade warriors have been created I command them to attack the Death Eaters and manage to turn my attention to other business._

"I can see it!" the gleeful shout reaches my ears and I focus on finding the girls exact location.

"Ok, I'm going to move the light, if it gets dimmer tell me 'colder'. If it gets brighter tell me 'hotter'. Alright?"

"Ok!"

I start moving the light and listen to her responses.

"Colder. Hotter. Hotter. Hotter. Colder. Hotter. Hotter. Hotter! It's right in front of me!"

Nodding I move so that I'm right by the light and start physically burrowing into the debris. Finally I feel just cool air and I assume that I've hit a pocket in the debris. I twist my body and work the rubble so that it ends up creating a weird reinforced sort of tunnel.

"Do you see my hands?"

"Yes."

"Ok, grab onto them."

I feel tiny hands grab my own and I start to carefully pull her out.

_Remus and Sirius are fighting back to back in the middle of the street and I am about to join them when someone casts fire in my way. Turning around I see a line of five Death Eaters looking at me, the middle one with their wand out. Narrowing my eyes I scan the Death Eaters quickly, trying to figure out what is going on with them. The one in the middle seems to be the strongest, or at least the one who has the least injuries. The one on the far right is keeping their weight off their left leg and the person right next to them is holding their arm at a weird angle. Meanwhile the Death Eater on the far left has their head tilted slightly to favor one ear. The person right next to them, at first, doesn't seem to have anything wrong, but then I notice that their breathing is irregular. Sneering, I adjust my grim on my wand._

_"Ok, who wants to be the first to die?" I ask._

_"Little Anna couldn't kill anyone! She doesn't have the guts to!" The middle Death Eater yells, her voice sing song-y. I recognize it as being Bellatrix's voice. The odd thought that she's married now crosses my mind and I ignore it._

_ "If you think so Bellabitch," I call back, knowing that my nickname for her will piss her off more than anything else. Well, excepting Sirius calling her Trixie._

Once she's out I look her over really quick, noticing that she has some really bad scrapes and cuts. Her right thigh has a gouge in it and I start to really worry. How long has she been trapped here bleeding like that?

Her eyes look at me with worry, "You aren't going to hurt me are you?"

I shake my head, "No, no I'm not. Come on, I'll take you up to Hogwarts."

Adjusting my grip on the small child, I start walking toward the castle when she turns pale and starts to cough. That isn't what worries me, it's when she starts coughing up blood that I start to panic and take off at a sprint.

_Bellatrix pulls off her mask and sneers at me, "As if you could take on five of us at once."_

_ "Fine, try me then," I growl, taking up a dueling position. Bellatrix seems to smile at this and takes up a similar position, her Death Eater guard moving so that I'm surrounded. I count to five and start blocking and absorbing spells. I can feel myself backing up into the heat of the fire. I see a house collapse on the people inside, yells and screams tearing into the air. A small figure is floating in the air, spinning around like a top. I glare at the Death Eaters before flicking my wand, using silent magic to ward them off as I work my way to the child._

The girl in my arms coughs again, more blood coming up, and she gives a light groan.

"It's ok," I say, voice purposefully calm, "It's alright. We're almost there."

_The child stops spinning just to start doing cartwheels in the air. The screams echo through the air, sending chills down my spine._

I nearly fall from the speed that I'm traveling, feet flying over the ground, trying to catch up with the momentum. I don't dare apperate with her, not without knowing how it will affect her wounds.

_"Impedimenda!" Bellatrix laughs as I fall forward, "So you want to get to the kiddie?"_

Breath comes in and out. Faster and harsher.

_"Avada Kedavra!" The green light hits the kid. The screaming stops, but the corps keeps spinning, "Oopsies."_

I finally reach the lawn of the school and charge up the steps, holding the barely breathing girl and ignoring the pain in my body.

_"What's wrong little Annalisa? Want to kill me?" Bellatrix asks, her voice in mock concern._

As I enter the hall, the few professors standing around, dinner had just finished apparently, stop and stare at me as I rush past, heading toward the Hospital wing.

_She smirks, eyes dancing insanely, "Come on wittle Annawisa, pway with me!" Bellatrix cackles._

I reach the doors of the hospital wing. Luckily they're open so I run right in.

_A heartbeat. A moment. _

"MADAM POMFREY!"

_Giving no warning, spells and curses start to fly at the witch, and her smile falters. She throws up a shield, but watches in horror as it starts to crack under the consistent barrage of attack._

The nurse comes running out, directing me where to place the young girl, who has become almost as pale as the sheets she is on. Only the blood which spatters around her mouth where she's been coughing shows any color.

_I slowly divide my focus enough so that I'm able to attack her friends. They drop quickly, their preexisting injuries being too much for them to withstand. When it's just Bellatrix and me, I smile at her and tilt my head. She relaxes slightly, thinking that I am about to go off into some speech about how she's cornered, but when I send more spellwork at her, she snarls and throws up half a shield before apperating away._

_ I run after her for a moment, "Coward!"_

_ Turning back toward the fight, I work my way to Sirius and Remus, both of whom look like they've seen better days._

Madam Pomfrey bustles around the bed, muttering incantations and different spells, watching as Marybelle's body glows with different colors, showing what and where her injuries are located. She starts working on healing the most severe injuries when Marybelle's whole body glows white. My heart lurches and I watch in panic as the mediwitch turned school nurse starts to work as fast as she can.

_Reaching two of my best friends I throw up a shield between Sirius and an incoming spell. He sees me and nods his thanks before adjusting so that the three of us can stand back to back, forming an odd sort of triangle. That's when the ground explodes, throwing each of us in a different direction._

I watch as the pale color seems to grab more and more onto the little girl on the bed. Pomfrey now looks worried and she keeps working, trying hard to keep the girl alive. After what seems like ages, the white glow, along with all the other ones surrounding the child just vanish. Madam Pomfrey sags and lets out a sigh. As she walks past me she places a hand on my shoulder.

"You tried, Ann." She uses my first name for the first, and probably last, time ever.

_Gritting my teeth as my back hits the cobbled wall, I fall to the ground and curl into a ball, protecting my head from the stone falling on top of me, listening to the terror going on around the town when it just stops. A loud crack sounds and when I unbury myself, the Death Eaters have left. As quickly as they appeared, they left, leaving the rest of us to try and work through what happened. As I shuffle out of the debris, some of the Death Eaters had given one last blast and had knocked over some walls, trees, and broken a bunch of glass, I start to feel small pains. Every part of me hurts, but luckily I don't have any broken bones this time. Crawling out of the rubble, I start to help with the cleanup, pulling people out of the rock, and carrying them over to either the carriages or the floo stations that had been set up._

I walk out of the hospital wing, my thoughts and emotions swirling around in my head, taking over everything. Including my control. I walk without paying attention to where I'm going. I don't even pay attention to when I hear someone call my name. When I find myself at the bottom of the Astronomy tower, I glance up before climbing to the top and standing outside in the night air. I breathe in and out for a moment before just letting out a yell. I can feel the last of my control snap, allowing my anger, fear, frustration, and all those other pent up feelings to direct my magic.

/*/ Lily's POV /*/

I reach the top of the Astronomy tower right as Ann gives an extremely loud yell. I feel my heart skip a beat at the emotion in it, the throaty way it sounds, reaching from her very core. But what I hear pales in comparison to what I see.

Ann is standing in the center of the landing and the air around her is whipping around in some unseen vortex. I step closer to her, and I feel the wind whip at me. Her skin seems to radiate this almost black light. The wind gains enough momentum in the little bubble around her that she seems to lift for a moment before everything suddenly stops and she falls to the ground, crashing to her knees.

"Ann!" I shout, running to her and kneeling next to her, "What's wrong?"

She looks at me, her eyes oddly devoid of anything. "What isn't wrong?" she asks, her voice low and gravelly, "What in this fucked up world isn't wrong? The whole place has gone to hades, and there's nothing I can do about it."

I open my mouth and then close it. I can't think of anything to say for her. Any of the words that I would have told someone else to calm them down fly from my mind. So I do the one thing that I can. I pull her into a hug.

Ann starts talking gibberish between her laughter. I realise that this is probably her way of breaking down and just hold her closer.

"And I tried to talk to Sirius, but he's losing it. We're all losing it," she mutters, "I don't know what to do. I used so much…so much that I never thought I would…and yet…then as I was coming back there was a girl…she'd been trapped and was injured…she died in the Hospital Wing. I couldn't help her." Another round of laughter, "Oh Morgana, I couldn't help her. Just like the other kids. And to think that there are so many dead. Do you think their parents care? I think they do."

I pull her up and start to walk back to Gryffindor Tower with Ann following, entirely too docile for my comfort. She keeps up her line of gibberish and giggles. Admittedly, her reaction kind of freaks me out, but then again, I have never seen her break down before. I don't think any of us have. I know no one here has seen her cry, except for maybe her brother. I'm also worried about Sirius. No one had seen him since dinner, and he hadn't eaten much then, and if Ann says he's losing it, then she's obviously seen him at some point. The fact that Ann didn't manage to get him to follow her back to school worries me.

Once we're in the tower, I lead her into our dorm, by now she's silent, staring ahead with an almost unblinking gaze, her eyes completely silver-grey in color. Once in the dorm, she takes over, walking to her bed and just laying on it, her eyes trained on the ceiling. I frown as I turn down the lights, wondering if we'll all ever be able to laugh again.

~*~ Ann's POV~*~

_Blood is running everywhere. Debris and cries of pain and terror. My reactions are too slow. They die. All of them. They die no matter what I do. Sirius. Remus. James. Peter. Lily. Rowan. Regulus. All of them. They die. No matter what I cannot save them. Cannot help them. And laughter surrounds me. Cold. High. Terrible. Spells, hexes, curses, and other things hit me. Pain. Everywhere. They all die. They…all…DIE!_

~*~AG~*~

I shoot up in bed, barely managing to catch the scream in my throat. I place a hand on my head, trying to drive away the headache and the images that my nightmare had brought on. Stumbling out of bed, I manage to make my way downstairs and sit in front of the fire place. As I stare at the darkened pit, I can't help but to feel that we're at the edge of something much worse than people think we are. I can't help but to feel as though there are some missing pieces to this puzzle. And as I sit in the dark, I can't help but to remember my nightmare and the entire situation which is now my life. Rowan and I are homeless right now. James offered to owl his parents, but I don't want to intrude. Even with as much as Mr. and Mrs. Potter enjoy taking in strays, Sirius's words, not mine, I think taking in two more teens is more than what the Potters would be bargaining for. And added onto that, I've been accepted into the Auror's accelerated training program, which means I have to take the written exam for it after my NEWTs so that I can get into the practical training.

Curling into a ball, I entwine my hands in my hair and try to control my thoughts before they get away from me again. I cannot afford to lose control. Taking deep breaths, I summon the box of cigarettes from my dorm and sit on the window sill, lighting one and holding onto the smoke for a long while until letting it out in a slow breath. I watch it drift out the window and along the air in mild curiosity.

"I thought that you'd stopped the last time McGonagall caught you."

Glancing toward the voice, I shrug. Sirius sits on the space left on the sill and snags a cigarette, lighting it with the flame produced from the snap of his fingers. Moony had taught them that trick, though Peter never really got a hold of it and James is better at wind styled attacks if he ever tries elemental magic.

"She doesn't scare me anymore."

"Did she honestly ever?"

"Yes."

The two of us sit in silence. I can tell from the way he keeps rubbing the back of the neck that he had woken up from a bad dream as well. It's just like I know he can tell the same about me. Neither of us needs to say anything. What could we say? We both saw Death today.

**AN/ Hey everyone! Ok, so I've had a couple of reviews lately ask if Ann and Sirius are going to get together. I will repeat what I've said before. Not in this story, simply because then it will be entirely too long and I will become fed up with it. As it is, Breaking Glass is coming to an end and that will be the end of my 'Glass' series. I'd thought about making a third which detailed the time between graduation and Halloween of 1981, but I have another idea for that. If/when I publish chapters showing Ann/Sirius, or Ann/?, or Sirius/? (Cause I love how everyone assumed that Ann and Sirius are getting together as I don't recall ever saying that those two would be another couple outside of James and Lily.) there will be a note either on my author page or in the current fic that I'm publishing. Anyway, now that I'm rambling, I ask that you review and let me know what you think!**


	25. Of Forgetting Worries with Laughter

"What do you mean I can't come with?" Rowan asks, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion.

I roll my eyes, "Exactly that. You can't come with. I'm lucky that Dumbledore gave me permission to go to London to look for a place for us to live. In fact, I think the only reason he agreed is because you are a minor."

"But if I'm going to live there I should-"

"Stay behind and study for your OWLs like any other student your age," I say, cutting him off.

Rowan huffs, "You just don't want me to go with because you think I'll get in the way."

"No, I don't want you to go with because you need to study, it was hard enough to get permission for me to go, and I'm going to be the one paying for it, so I'm the one who gets to pick."

"So the Death Eaters and Voldemort have nothing to do with it?" he asks. When I don't answer he growls, "Damn it Ann! I'm not some little kid! I can fight!"

"You haven't been properly trained in fighting and if I do end up being caught up in a fight, I'm getting out of there as soon as possible. It doesn't make sense to get into a fight that you're going to lose," I say.

"And here I thought you were a Gryffindor," Rowan mutters, scowling at the table.

I pound the table with my fist, "DAMN IT ROWAN! This is not about being courageous enough! This is about being smart! If I manage to end up in a fight with Death Eaters while I'm out, do you honestly think that they're going to fight me one on one in a fair duel? No! They're going to all attack at once, and I do not need you to be there itching to fight if that happens! Because then not only would I have to worry about escaping, but I would also need to make sure that you didn't end up killed! And I would not be able to stand it if my brother died!"

Rowan blinks, but the scowl doesn't leave his face, "But wouldn't it be better to have two people with you? Just in case you were attacked?"

"You are not going with and that is final," I say, grabbing my jacket from where it is lying next to me and shrugging it on, "I expect to find you studying when I get back, and if you do anything terribly stupid, I will find out."

I can hear his grumbling as I leave the hall and the castle. My strides quickly cross the lawn of the castle until I'm at the gates. Once past the wards, I turn and apparate to Diagon Alley, knowing that it is the best way to get into muggle London without having to try to apparate to some random spot and hoping that no muggles are in the area. I leave the alley and walk along the streets, looking for the right address while my mind thinks about the end of school which is quickly arriving. It doesn't feel like it's been seven years.

I frown, seven years? Has it really been such a short time? It seems like yesterday when we all were crossing the lake to be sorted. Shaking myself from my thoughts, I manage to maneuver around a large framed man who had his arm around a rather boney blonde woman.

"Petunia, we're going to be late for our lunch date," he says.

"But I could have sworn that I've seen that woman before." I barely catch her reply as I move through the crowd. All the conversations around me just kind of bubble around me like a brook.

"We need how many yards of fabric by when?"

"Tommy, you can't have that toy! If you don't start behaving you won't have any biscuits after dinner."

"No, he really does fancy you."

_'Come on Grimwood, get a hold of yourself. You need to find a flat by four this afternoon.'_ I mentally shake myself again before continuing to the address that I was given, hoping for the best.

~*~AG~*~

I return to Hogwarts that afternoon, tired, but triumphant. I'd finally managed to find a flat and it is, luckily enough, at close distance to the ministry and St. Mungos. I walk into the Entrance Hall and get ready to walk into the Great Hall when I hear my name shouted a moment before a body runs into me. Since I don't have the time to prepare, both Rowan and me end up sprawled on the ground.

"Hi. As much as I love his eager greeting, it doesn't do much for my breathing," I say, chuckling slightly.

Rowan buries his head in the crook of my neck much like he did as a kid, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have been so pushy and mean before you left. I should have known that there was a good reason you didn't want me to come with. I love you and I'm sorry."

I blink, "I love you too, but what happened?"

"You didn't hear?" A quick glance tells me that Regulus, Sirius, Remus, and Peter are all watching. I shake my head.

"There was an attack in London earlier today. When we heard about it Rowan started freaking out and hasn't relaxed until now," Regulus says.

Taking in the stress in all of them, and the fact that I can still feel Rowan shaking while he holds onto me, I make a swift decision. Poking Rowan, I get him to get off of me and then stand up. Throwing my arm over his shoulders, I smile a bit and motion for the others to follow me. As we walk through the halls to the doors that lead to the dungeons, Lily and James, who had been on a quick patrol, join us. Our group is oddly silent, but it doesn't feel forced. I think we've all learned how to appreciate being in each other's presence without feeling the need to speak, an appreciation influenced by the looming war no doubt. And I realise that no matter what, these are the people I trust the most. If I had to pick anyone to fight with, it would be these seven people right here. Giving a small smile, I tickle the pear and step into the kitchens.

"Hows can Hemlock helps young Misters and Mistresses?" a house elf asks.

Sirius blinks, "Hemlock? You're a new elf aren't you?"

Hemlock nods.

"Why's you're name Hemlock, isn't that a bit odd for an elf?" Lily asks.

"Hemlock's old Masters named Hemlock, Hemlock doesn't know why old Masters picked what they picked," Hemlock says.

"Ok then," I say, "Hemlock, could you set up a small table off to the side for all of us to use? We're a little too shaken to eat with the majority of the school right now."

Hemlock nods, his ears flapping back and forth, "Yes Miss! Right away Miss!"

A moment later and a circular table was sitting in an alcove with some of the food that is offered at dinner on it. We all take our seats. I almost want to hit whoever allowed James and Sirius to sit next to each other, but Lily is next to James, so that ought to curb any pesky behavior from them. I smile and nudge Rowan, who's to my right and motion to his peas and then to Regulus, who is across from him. He nods and starts flicking them across the table. Meanwhile, I do the same thing to Sirius, who is across from me, with some cut carrots. Remus, who is to my left, almost protests until he gets hit in the nose with a lima bean. His amber eyes narrow as he looks across the table to a madly grinning James. Soon the six of us have broken into a food fight while Lily and Peter just sigh in resignation and cast shield charms around themselves.

I manage to turn my head and avoid getting mashed potato in my face, though it does land in my hair. Laughing, I fling some right back at Regulus, laughing harder when he ducks and it hits his brother instead. And as this chaos swarms around us, I can't help but be proud that they're all laughing and happy again. Even if it's only for a little bit. Even if I know that the moment we step out of this castle that we're going to be strongly reminded about the war that wagers. This is enough. For right now, this is enough.

_Mischief Managed_

**AN/ Well here it is, the end of _Breaking Glass_, and the end of my _Glass_ series. I do have a sort of follow up series that I could publish, but I don't know if I will. Quick note to my _Eternal Livingroom_ fans, I have not forgotten you, and am working on the sequal, which will be titled _The Eternal War_.**

**Ok, so since this chapter is the end and amazingly short, here's some random facts about this story. If you want, you can run away screaming now, though thank you for reading and please leave a final review!**

**Facts:  
>1) Ann was supposed to die before the end of seventh year. She was going to die protecting a bunch of kids in a Hogsmead attack and Tessa was going to be the one to kill her.<br>2) Rowan was originally going to be a Gryffindor.  
>3) Tessa wasn't going to exsist.<br>4) I have not forgotten the Guardians arc from Crystalline Glass. I'll give a virtual cookie for anyone who can correctly guess who the Guardians are.  
>5) Though Ann is good as swordsmanship, she cannot dance to save her life and hates heels with a passion.<br>6) I originally had Sirius/Remus as a ship, but changed my mind after a bit. It was about the same time that I decided that Ann would never turn to magically making dresses to earn extra money.  
>7) In one of the summer chapters I was going to have a scene of Sirius being locked in his room playing guitar and being a rather serious Sirius.<br>8) I picked Annalisa because I couldn't decide between them (Anna or Lisa), but that's rather moot point seeing as that she's mostly called Ann.  
>9) If she'd been on the Quidditch team, Ann would have played as Beater.<br>10) Sirius was originally going to place Tessa and Bellatrix in chicken suits when the four way fight took place at the beginning of this story.  
>11) Sirius and Ann immediatly became Aurors after Hogwarts and did their mentorship with Mad-Eye. James played proQuidditch for six months before the League was disbanded. After that he took up working for the Order full time. Lily earned a mastery in Charms and worked for a Charms development company. Remus earned a mastery in Defense Against the Dark Arts and didn't have stable work, except for his volunteering for the Order. Peter found work with a company that did research in History.<br>12) Sirius ended up moving in with Ann and Rowan in their flat because his flat had been attacked by the Death Eaters.  
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**Again, thank you for reading _Breaking Glass_, and please leave a last review.**


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